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$1.5 million for modernizing the Gloucester State Pier, $10 million for establishing community 

 revolving loan programs, and a grant for the establishment of a Massachusetts Seafood Task 

 Force; and a Department of Labor grant for job retraining and job counseling to those fishermen 

 who wish to pursue other livelihoods. 



To date the federal government has invested over $60 million in the New England fishing 

 industry. This is not welfare. It is an investment in our fishing industry and our coastal 

 communities. But more investment is needed and I pledge to continue to work with the 

 Administration to obtain additional funding for the programs that are important to Massachusetts 

 and the rest of New England. 



Finally, 1 would like to point out an important opportunity to address some of the failures 

 of the current management system. The Magnuson Fisheries Conservation and Management Act 

 is due to be reauthorized this year, and I have authored a number of provisions in the 

 reauthorization bill that should allow for improved management of our fisheries resources, and 

 provide financial assistance tools needed to help our fishermen emerge from the current situation. 

 Of particular importance, the reauthorization bill would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to: 

 (1) make relief funds available to affected States, fishing communities, and individuals in the 

 case of a commercial fishery failure; (2) refinance vessel mortgages, allowing an extended 

 repayment schedule (including interest-only payments) that reflects reduced vessel income due to 

 stock rebuilding restrictions; and (3) implement a vessel or permit buyout program if adequate 

 steps have been taken to ensure that vessels or permits are removed permanently from a fishery 

 and the buyouts are needed for conservation and management. The first two of these provisions 

 are not included in the House-passed version of the bill, and I would like to enlist the assistance 

 of my colleagues here today to ensure they are included in the final enacted bill. 



In closing, I want say that it is our responsibility and duty to ensure that future 

 generations of Massachusetts citizens have the opportunity to fish as a livelihood, if that is what 

 they desire. I want to ensure that the waterfronts of New Bedford, Gloucester and the towns of 

 the Cape are homes to active fishing fleets and not to abandoned fishing vessels of interest only 

 to tourists as photograph backdrops. 



Our work is just beginning. While I note our efforts to date, I do not intend to stop there. 

 I look forward to working with the committee and all the members of the House and Senate who 

 are concerned about these matters. Thank you. 



