Rep. Pombo strikes again

Fishy Politics Threaten Oceans

By Nancy Jacques, 6-14-06

You don’t have to live where tidal spray leaves the skin crusty to love the ocean and care about its future. So when I first caught a hint of The American Fisheries Management and Marine Life Enhancement Act, HR 5018 for short, the hairs on the back of my neck stiffened and I took notice. Living 1,000 or more miles from seawater doesn’t make the landlocked soul a helpless bystander of oceans taking a dive.

The first hint of trouble is the bill’s sponsor: Rep. Richard Pombo (R,CA), Chair of the House Committee on Resources and infamous purveyor of death knells for national trust lands, the Endangered Species Act, civil due process and government transparency. Pombo wants Congress to believe he’s out to strengthen the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which is considered the nation’s primary fisheries conservation law regulating maritime commercial and recreational fishing.

Pure piffle. According to the Marine Fish Conservation Network and Ocean Conservancy, Pombo’s bill works counter to oceanic and fisheries health. As written, HR 5018 privatizes publicly owned marine resources, blocks public participation in management decisions and access to fisheries data. It doesn’t make fishermen accountable for exceeding catch limits, weakens criteria used for identifying depleted fish stocks and provides exclusions to rebuilding them. Also, it doesn’t revise or improve damaging fishing methods, which could reduce continuing incidences of by-catch and seafloor destruction.

Since traditionally commerce committees handle these maritime affairs (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that administers marine resources falls under the US Commerce Dept.), one needs to question Pombo’s resources committee involvement. And since so many of the congressman’s bills teeter on the surreal, perhaps this latest play is ploy, not a crimson flag but a red herring. In short, this is an election year and Pombo’s seat is in question. He may be trolling for time to gain his infamously resource-hungry campaign funders’ favor.

The President himself — hardly known for science literacy and environmental ethics — professes concern for marine and coastal protections. That’s something to notice, except he’s also said he likes healthy forests and clean air. Still, he has taken positive action.

President Bush authorized establishment of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, in 2000, to study and recommend strategies protecting marine ecosystems. Proclaimed as the most thorough review ever conducted of this nation’s oceans and coasts, the commission’s publication "An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century" was submitted to the President two years ago.

Containing 212 recommendations that, according to the report, pertain to all aspects of ocean and coastal policy, no fewer than 47 recommendations called for immediate congressional action. Eight called for presidential action. In response, the President established a new Cabinet-level Committee on Ocean Policy. The Committee, in turn, condensed the Blueprint into “The U.S. Ocean Action Plan,” and turned the issue back to Congress, last September. Two bills, one from each chamber’s commerce committees are ready for the floors.

Now enter Pombo and cronies.

Congress, along with everything else it should be doing, I mean, besides appeasing the super rich and Bushite extremies, needs to sort this out. In the meantime, recommendations for action wait and ocean lovers sit frustrated, except that’s not productive either. It might feel like our purchasing choices are just drops in one humongous bailing bucket, but the health of many wild fish species, and the vitality and safety of coastal ecosystems and communities, are succumbing to hankerings for texture and flavor by us landlubbers. If we’re not vegetarians, at least we can be smart fish-munchers.

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