Fishing concerns affect senators’ votes on bill

WASHINGTON – This was a bad week for Maine’s 400-year-old fishing industry. Or a good one. Depends on whom you ask, and it’s certainly not the fishermen.

U.S. Sens. Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republicans, voted on opposite sides of a $373 billion omnibus spending bill for 2004 that would make changes to the state’s fishing industry.

The bill, after being defeated in a cloture vote earlier this week, passed the Senate 65-28 on Thursday.

After the vote, Collins, who voted for the bill despite initial reservations, said the measure was crucial to secure nearly $300 million for key projects in Maine, including funding for construction of a new Waldo-Hancock Bridge, energy assistance projects and university grants.

While both senators appeared to agree on securing extra funds for the state, the split came over Amendment 13, a fisheries plan that restricts groundfish harvests.

Snowe, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries and Coast Guard of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said she could not in good conscience vote for the omnibus bill when Amendment 13 would have serious repercussions on Maine’s fishing industry.

Of particular concern to her, she said, is language on individual fishing quotas, or IFQs, which she described as a “critical threat to Maine fishermen.”

IFQs are federal permits to harvest a quantity of fish based on the percentage of the total allowable catch in the fishery.

While IFQs are believed to have several advantages, including reduced overcapitalization, safer work conditions for fishermen and more economic certainty, detractors point out that they also can lead to monopolization, privatization of a public resource and the possible marginalization of smaller boats.

According to Snowe, quotas also tie the hands of fishermen by dictating to whom they can sell their catch, putting them at a severe economic disadvantage.

“I held to my ‘no’ vote throughout the omnibus votes because my concerns never changed. I strongly believe this [IFQ] provision has serious consequences for fishermen and the resources upon which they depend,” she said Thursday.

Collins, meanwhile, has taken a more conciliatory approach.

Though last November she added a section to the bill cutting off funding needed to implement Amendment 13, Collins decided this week to vote in favor of the bill.

After it passed Thursday, she announced she would work with other senators to lift the restriction after being assured by the New England Fishery Management Council that it would revisit issues devastating to Maine’s fishing industry.

“I believed a pause in this process was necessary because Amendment 13 contained far too many inequities that unfairly discriminate against Maine fishermen. Fortunately, considerable progress has been made over the past few weeks to address these inequities,” she said.

She also said that at a meeting of the council’s Groundfish Committee, changes to Amendment 13 were adopted that would make the plan fairer for Maine’s fishing industry. The full council will meet next week to vote on the changes. The changes include more days at sea allotted to fishermen and an examination of steaming time, the time required for fishermen to get to and from prime fishing grounds.

Snowe, however, warned of greater federal control on fisheries as a result of the bill.

“This provision will send us further down the road of having Congress directly managing fisheries – something Congress expressly decided not to do,” she said.

Meanwhile, Collins’ office Thursday issued a release touting the benefits of the passage of the spending bill.

“Thousands of Mainers and millions of Americans will benefit from the programs that we supported today, including veterans, students and low-income families,” the release quoted Collins as saying.

Among projects included in the bill are:

. $4 million for the Waldo-Hancock Bridge.

. $1.25 million for Maine statewide bus services and related facilities.

. $270,000 for the National Cold Water Aquaculture center in Franklin.

. $400,000 for the Maine Rural Substance Abuse Partnership.