Frank Pallone: “I am in support of the bill at hand, but I really got up because I would like to speak on H.R. 1855, which I know just…”

“I am in support of the bill at hand, but I really got up because I would like to speak on H.R. 1855, which I know just passed. I am very pleased over the fact that it did. This is an important bill, H.R. 1855, that protects an important resource to fishermen in my district from overutilization and depletion. I would like to just summarize by saying that H.R. 1855 serves to prohibit large fishing vessels from engaging in the harvest of Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel within our EEZ waters. Mr. Speaker, these large vessels should be temporarily restricted from the Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel fishery until accurate information has been collected. To date, no ship of this size has fished this vulnerable fishery. I must inform this Chamber that I am not concerned as to whether NMFS has declared these stocks to be fully utilized or even underutilized. These vessels have the potential of making any fishery overutilized in a short period of time. Large fishing trawlers are highly efficient and can catch five to six times more than any vessel currently registered with NMFS on the Atlantic coast. Furthermore, the processing capacity of large vessels is so great that they can fill quotas. As a result, these ships will compromise the Atlantic herring and the Atlantic mackerel fishing seasons.”