New Bedford Fishing Industry Targets Obama on Martha’s Vineyard – End “Catch-Share” Regulations

Port of New Bedford, Fishing Main Industry of the MA 4th Congressional District - hindered by regulations image working waterfront.com

New Bedford Massachusetts is known for its Fishing Fleet, one of the nation’s largest fleets, and the largest employers in the 4th Congressional District. NECN (New England Cable News)reported that several New Bedford based fishing boats headed out to Martha’s Vineyard, where the President is vacationing to protest the “Catch-Share” Rules put into effect in May 2010 by NOAA’s “Office of Sustainable Fisheries” .

Catch-Shares limit the number of fish by species to be taken in any given season, and was instituted in Congress in 2006 under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Management Authorization Act of 2006 by the 109th Congress, Barney Frank, the 4th Congressional District Representative, representing the City of New Bedford, argued that local fisheries have a “stake in the shares”. However the Bill, originally instituted in the house and sponsored by retiring 10th District Congressmen Bill Delahunt (D), was based on science, some argue, that is not specifically sound.

The initial legislation was pushed by environmentalist concerned about the population of the oceans fish, and “shares” were designed to be sold, by the government to businesses, allowing for a type of “currency” which could be sold, the “share” is essentially the number of fish one can legally catch by species as enacted by Congress. In other words, the government also regulates the fishing industry.

The question is who is standing up for the small business owners, those fleets that sail out of New Bedford and Gloucester in Massachusetts to the Crabbers of Alaska? Ironically, the same individuals who implemented the bill in the first placed are now asking to relax the rules in order to allow for a little relief. Senator’s John Kerry (D) and newly elected Senator Scott Brown (R) were joined by several Congressional Representatives, including Delahunt, Frank, Tierney and McGovern in the request to add flexibility to the rules n several areas (Gloucester Times. Perhaps they should have thought about possible changes in scientific data and allowed for flexibility when writing the original legislation. (Brown excluded)

Brown, in the same Gloucester Times article states the areas high unemployment as reason for relaxing the rules. Once a “fleet” has met its catch limit, they are essentially “grounded” for the remainder of the season, to allow for the fish to repopulate.

How important is the fishing industry to the United States? The Top 10 U.S. Seaports, by Tonnage (most recent date 2006 are by order of most fish caught:

1. Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, AK: 911.3
2. Intracoastal City, LA: 400.7
3. Reedville, VA: 372.5
4. Kodiak, AK: 332.8
5. Empire-Venice, LA: 285.7
6. Pascagoula-Moss Point, MS: 212.1
7. New Bedford, MA: 169.9
8. Los Angeles, CA: 164.5
9. Astoria, OR: 164.1
10. Gloucester, MA: 148.4

By Value the top port is New Bedford, MA, making the industry critical to the 4th district and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts ranks 3rd worldwide, behind first place China, and second place Japan.

Although highly unlikely that Obama will hear the pleas of the Captains of the Fishing Industry while out on Golf Course, it is also highly unlikely he would or could do anything about the plight of the fishing industry as those purse strings are controlled by members of the House and Senate(i.e. Congress) This coupled with the fact that Obama’s preference is to appoint academic experts to look at a given situation for months prior to coming to any conclusion, if there is one, would make that request futile (the Gulf Oil Spill comes to mind).

Congress and the Senate combined with the help of Obama since 2008 have regulated and added more formerly self-directed businesses to government control than any in history. From health care, to student loans (government interest rates on student loans are at 10% plus - where the banks were at prime and no longer allowed to issue student loans), to the auto industry, to mortgages and that list includes the now suffering fishing industry. (As nothing has been done to repeal or de-regulate any aspect of this industry under the 109th or the 110th congress.)

What are the fishermen and fleets out of New England, Alaska, Louisiana and other top ports to do? Vote for those who would be most likely to deregulate and hope the 111th Congress will reverse the most egregious of ACTS passed into law which have done nothing more than add to the nations economic woes.

The port of Gloucester was brought to national attention by the film “Perfect Storm” in 2000, a film which highlights the intense dangers of the fishing industry.

Barney Frank (D-MA) – Speaking to Young Democrats - Mistakes Should Be Rewarded with More Authority – Reminder Frank if Up for Reelection in 2010

From Real Clear Politics:
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): "You can reach out to your fellow young people and make it clear to them, that when [sic] they may not be satisfied with everything we've done -- we're not satisfied with everything we've done. The way to cure that is to give us more authority and more ability."

The video below speaks for itself. Barney Frank, who is up for re-election this year, has held the office of 4th District Representative for eons. That said, up until recently (2008) Frank had gone basically unchallenged for his seat. In 2008, Republican Earl Sholley tested the waters in a late entry into the race – losing to Frank by a fairly wide margin. That said Sholley, with zero name recognition at the time, took 70,000 plus votes in the 2008 election in the 4th Massachusetts district, spelling trouble for Frank in 2010.

Frank will face Rachel Brown in the primary, and should he win the primary against Brown, he will go on to campaign against one of two Republican challengers, Sean Bielat, a Marine reservist, and Earl Sholley, who will face off in a primary in September.

For more information on the above referenced candidates:

Democrat
Rachel for Congress.com

Republican
Sean Bielat.org
Sholley for Congress.us

Frank, who has had control over our nation’s finances, specifically mortgage giants Freddie and Fannie should simply retire. (Rumors to that effect have circulated, however, to date; there is no specific confirmation from Frank). The comments made in the video below, speak to the sense of entitlement and the use of chicanery, specifically with the young Democrats, asking them to follow blindly and give Frank one more chance to “get it right”. (To be fair, Frank was speaking, not of himself, but the administration and Democrats in general).

PT Barnum mistakenly attributed quote is applicable here: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time."

Update: Massachusetts 4th District 2010 Congressional Race – Barney Frank vs. Earl Sholley

Earl Sholley, Candidate for U.S. Congress, Massachusetts 4th District

Although still early in the 2010 political season, one has to take a hard look at Barney Frank’s district race this year – in the past, Congressman Frank ran virtually unopposed – that is no longer the case. The Sholley for Congress Campaign appears to have the backing and, from what is understood, internal polling, to have launched a social media campaign, including a savvy new website entitled: Frankfumbles.com (click here to view) It is known that Lisa Camp, Sholley Campaign manager, is a who’s who of the Huckabee for President 2008 campaign, and that one can bet the house (literally), the Massachusetts 4th will be an interesting race to watch in the next 9 months. Although the district is known to be “Democrat safe”, the highest percentage of voters are “unenrolled”, therefore, it will be up to both Frank and Sholley to appeal to those voters, the base, in both cases, cannot deliver a win in this district.

Barney Frank, Incumbant U.S. Congressman, Massachusetts 4th District