Thank You
I want to thank everyone for coming out to the AC meetings last week. You filled the seats at every meeting and your comments and conversations before, during, and afterwards sent a loud and clear message! We all know the importance of SAV (submerged aquatic vegetation) but we also know these proposed trawl closure lines extend well beyond just protecting grass!
When this issue was first brought up in February, NCFA reviewed the documents, state statutes, attended that first meeting, and commented on this issue. We continued to educate ourselves and stakeholders about what was happening and encouraged everyone to reach out, get involved, and to come out to be seen and tell your story.
NCFA knows these proposed trawling closures are not necessary and there is no supporting science that says closing these areas to shrimpers will restore grass beds. NCFA’s official position on this issue is that we oppose all of these proposed closures. State statue says that rules and proclamation issued by the Division of Marine Fisheries need to be reasonably necessary and cannot be arbitrary.
NCFA is constantly going through documents, state law, attending meetings, and working hard to keep every single fishery going in this state. We know that no one can stand to lose anything else and we are all tired of being told to pick our poison. We fought for mullet fishermen recently, we are always fighting for flounder, and we will be there fighting for the next issue!
And as our Executive Director Glenn Skinner commented last week,
“Y’all drew some lines….and we drew a line in the sand and said hell no!”
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: 4.15.2024
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The NC General Assembly will convene its “short session” April 24th. Typically, legislators shy away from introducing any new legislation not tied in some way to the budget, but that’s not always the case. Speaker Tim Moore said recently that this session will indeed be short.
FEDERAL ISSUES:
SAVE OUR SHRIMPERS ACT
On April 10th, Congressman Troy Nehls of Texas, along with several others, introduced the bipartisan Save Our Shrimpers Act of 2024. Most of his cosponsors are from the Gulf except for Nancy Mace of South Carolina. We have reached out to our legislators to sign on as well but no decision to do so yet. We encourage you to reach out to Greg Murphy and David Rouzer’s office to do so.
There are links below for the press release about the bill that includes a quote from NCFA’s Glenn Skinner and another link for the actual legislation. NCFA has endorsed this bill.
“The North Carolina Fisheries Association, (NCFA), endorses the ‘Save Our Shrimpers Act,’” said Glenn Skinner, the Executive Director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, Inc. “The bill is designed to address one of the major sources of global excess capacity and excess production of farm raised shrimp. The imports of those shrimp have now overwhelmed the U.S. market driving prices for shrimp down to levels that for many shrimpers cannot cover the cost of a shrimp fishing trip, and as a result the U.S. shrimp industry is facing collapse.
The bill would prohibit U.S. taxpayer funds from being used by international financial institutions to finance any activity relating to shrimp farming, the processing of shrimp, or shrimp exports in a foreign country.”
Here is the press release:
Press release for the Save Our Shrimpers Act
You can read the legislation here:
INCLUSION IN THE FARM BILL
NCFA is part of a coalition working to include seafood concerns in the Farm Bill. There are 3 requests:
First, to include language that would establish an Office of Seafood Policy and Program Integration in the USDA Office of the Chief Economist.
Second, to include language that would increase the inclusion of seafood in USDA nutrition programs, including purchases from small and midsize seafood businesses along with large seafood businesses.
Third, to include language allowing commercial fishermen, seafood processors, and other supporting businesses to gain access to USDA grant and loan programs, as well as Farm Credit System (FCS) services.
SHRIMP TRADE RELIEF
NCFA is part of the US Shrimpers Coalition that includes shrimpers from North Carolina to Texas working on the plight of the industry. In concert with the Southern Shrimp Alliance and the American Shrimp Processors Association, legal action has been filed with the International Trade Commission for trade relief.
A Federal Register notice was printed on April 9 titled “Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews”.
In other trade actions. Groups have requested that the Bureau of International Labor Affairs of the US Department of Labor to add Indian shrimp to the 024 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor and, separately, to the List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor.
God bless,
Jerry
