NOAA’S FISHERY SCIENCE: IS THE LACK OF BASIC SCIENCE COSTING JOBS? OVERSIGHT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE, OCEANS AND INSULAR AFFAIRS OF THE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION Tuesday, July 26, 2011 Serial No. 112-52 Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov or Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 67-648 PDF WASHINGTON : 2012 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:00 Aug 07, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 L:\DOCS\67648.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES DOC HASTINGS, WA, Chairman EDWARD J. MARKEY, MA, Ranking Democrat Member Don Young, AK Dale E. Kildee, MI John J. Duncan, Jr., TN Peter A. DeFazio, OR Louie Gohmert, TX Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, AS Rob Bishop, UT Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ Doug Lamborn, CO Grace F. Napolitano, CA Robert J. Wittman, VA Rush D. Holt, NJ Paul C. Broun, GA Rau´ l M. Grijalva, AZ John Fleming, LA Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU Mike Coffman, CO Jim Costa, CA Tom McClintock, CA Dan Boren, OK Glenn Thompson, PA Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, CNMI Jeff Denham, CA Martin Heinrich, NM Dan Benishek, MI Ben Ray Luja´n, NM David Rivera, FL John P. Sarbanes, MD Jeff Duncan, SC Betty Sutton, OH Scott R. Tipton, CO Niki Tsongas, MA Paul A. Gosar, AZ Pedro R. Pierluisi, PR Rau´ l R. Labrador, ID John Garamendi, CA Kristi L. Noem, SD Colleen W. Hanabusa, HI Steve Southerland II, FL Vacancy Bill Flores, TX Andy Harris, MD Jeffrey M. Landry, LA Charles J. ‘‘Chuck’’ Fleischmann, TN Jon Runyan, NJ Bill Johnson, OH Todd Young, Chief of Staff Lisa Pittman, Chief Counsel Jeffrey Duncan, Democrat Staff Director David Watkins, Democrat Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE, OCEANS AND INSULAR AFFAIRS JOHN FLEMING, LA, Chairman GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, CNMI, Ranking Democrat Member Don Young, AK Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, AS Robert J. Wittman, VA Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ Jeff Duncan, SC Madeleine Z. Bordallo, GU Steve Southerland, II, FL Pedro R. Pierluisi, PR Bill Flores, TX Colleen W. Hanabusa, HI Andy Harris, MD Vacancy Jeffrey M. Landry, LA Edward J. Markey, MA, ex officio Jon Runyan, NJ Doc Hastings, WA, ex officio (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:00 Aug 07, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 L:\DOCS\67648.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY CONTENTS Page Hearing held on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 ............................................................... 1 Statement of Members: Fleming, Hon. John, a Representative in Congress from the State of Louisiana ....................................................................................................... 1 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 3 Markey, Hon. Edward J., a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Statement submitted for the record .. 110 Sablan, Hon. Gregorio, a Delegate in Congress from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ................................................................. 5 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 6 Statement of Witnesses: Angers, Jefferson, President, Center for Coastal Conservation ................... 68 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 70 Cadrin, Steven, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries Oceanography, School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and Member, Science and Statistical Committee, South Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils ......................................................................................................... 35 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 37 DiDomenico, Gregory, Executive Director, Garden State Seafood Association ..................................................................................................... 82 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 84 Frank, Hon. Barney, a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Oral statement of ................................ 10 Gauvin, John, Fisheries Science Director, Alaska Seafood Cooperative ...... 90 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 92 Geiger, George, Owner/Operator, Chances Are Fishing Charters ................ 98 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 100 Harris, Duane, Member and Past Chairman, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council .................................................................................... 22 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 24 Jones, Hon. Walter, a Representative in Congress from the State of North Carolina .............................................................................................. 8 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 9 Mica, Hon. John, a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida, Oral statement of .......................................................................................... 7 Morris, Julie, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, Office of the Provost, New College of Florida, and Former Member, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and Member of the Secretary’s Marine Fish Advisory Committee (MAFAC) .............................................. 29 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 31 Nelson, David, Charter/Commercial Fishing Captain, Ponce Inlet, Florida ............................................................................................................ 75 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 77 Pearce, Harlon, Jr., Owner, Harlon’s LA Fish LLC, and Member, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and Chair of the Council’s Data Collection Committee, Representing the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council .................................................................................... 62 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 64 Schwaab, Eric, Assistant Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce ............................................................................. 13 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 14 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:00 Aug 07, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 L:\DOCS\67648.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY VerDate Nov 24 2008 14:00 Aug 07, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 L:\DOCS\67648.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY OVERSIGHT HEARING TITLED ‘‘NOAA’S FISH- ERY SCIENCE: IS THE LACK OF BASIC SCIENCE COSTING JOBS?’’ Tuesday, July 26, 2011 U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs Committee on Natural Resources Washington, D.C. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:10 p.m. in Room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. John Fleming [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Fleming, Wittman, Duncan, Southerland, Harris, Runyan, Sablan, Pallone, Bordallo, and Hanabusa. Also present: Representative Frank. Mr. FLEMING. The Subcommittee will come to order. The Chair- man notes the presence of a quorum. Good afternoon. Today the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs will conduct an oversight hearing titled, ‘‘NOAA’s Fishery Science: Is the Lack of Basic Science Costing Jobs.’’ Under Committee Rule 4(f), opening statements are limited to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee so that we can hear from our witnesses more quickly. However, I ask unanimous consent to include any other Members’ opening state- ments in the hearing record if submitted to the clerk by close of day today. Hearing no objection, so ordered. STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN FLEMING, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF LOUISIANA Mr. FLEMING. In 2006, Congress passed amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to require that fishery managers make harvest decisions based on science. These amendments also required that fishermen be held accountable to these new scientifically based harvest limits. These were, and are, worthy goals. However, I suspect if con- gressmen knew then what we know now, these amendments would have been written very differently. Those requirements were based on the model of fisheries management in the North Pacific, which has been held up as an example that the rest of the country should emulate. Unfortunately, the amount of data available for fisheries outside the North Pacific is radically different than that available to managers in the North Pacific. In addition