A New Bedford-based scalloper recently advocated for the Massachusetts fishing industry at the White House, speaking with President Trump in the Oval Office on everything from cutting red tape to licensing as U.S. fishermen have been dealing with increasing obstacles for decades.
John Lees, who has founded and currently owns and operates several businesses in the scalloping and seafood industry, joined a group of U.S. commercial fishermen at the White House on June 11 to witness the signing of Proclamation 8031, called “A Proclamation Restoring American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific.”
“When I spoke and I told the President of the United States what our two issues were (in New Bedford), he was very engaged with us,” Lees told the Herald over the phone. “It was a moment where, you find yourself on a grand stage – to be in front of the President of the United States and there are cameras everywhere and TV stations, but a calmness came over me and I was able to describe what our two issues were.”
Specifically, the presidential directive orders the reopening of hundreds of thousands of square miles of Pacific waters to commercial fishing that were closed as National Monuments by former President George W. Bush and later expanded by former President Barack Obama.
The White House says it’s in an effort to restore competitiveness to the U.S. seafood industry as foreign companies capitalize off American fishing grounds that U.S. fishermen have been denied access to.
“We’ve expanded access to key fishing grounds in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, including vast areas off the coast of New England. I mentioned 500 miles by 500 miles. That’s a lot. That’s lot of fish. It’s a lots of lobster that was being sold by Japan. I will tell you, foreign countries are very happy because they ended up taking over the Maine lobster business,” Trump said before signing the proclamation.
“These actions have unlocked billions of dollars in economic value and protected thousands and thousands of jobs from great people that voted for Trump, and they voted for me because of common sense. That’s all it is, because anybody can see this stuff is crazy,” he said.
During the signing ceremony in the Oval Office, Lees spoke directly to Trump about challenges the industry faces in New Bedford and the rest of New England, advocating for certain changes to regulations on the use of scalloping vessels and regaining access to nearly 250 miles of fishing grounds off Georges Bank.
“New Bedford, Massachusetts is a port that is recognized as the highest grossing revenue port in the United States. I don’t know who knows where New Bedford is, but the sea scallop [industry] is roughly 300 full-time vessels,” Lees told Trump while standing alongside his fellow commercial fishermen.
“We have vessels that can cost anywhere between $3-$5 million and those vessels only work for 35 days a year. They sit the rest of the time at the dock. So we need certain things that could help us,” he added.
Trump’s proclamation follows several other actions to loosen regulations on the industry, including directives that have impacted the industry in New England. Trump even issued directives to loosen regulations on the scalloping industry, recently introducing reforms to scallop regulations regarding access area allocations and a firm start date to begin harvesting larger and more profitable scallops.
“President Trump is once again delivering for American fishermen by opening prized Pacific fishing grounds with this Executive Proclamation,” added Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick during the ceremony. “By restoring commercial fishing in the remote Pacific, we are creating new economic opportunity for coastal communities and restoring U.S. seafood competitiveness.”
In February, Trump issued a proclamation restoring U.S. commercial fishing access to national monuments on the east coast, most notably the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the coast of New England.
“It’s a game changer for our industry, and that’s from the president. That that came from this president and we haven’t had that from any other president that I can recall,” Lees told the Herald.
Lees, a staple of the scalloping industry, founded and currently serves as the CEO of boutique seafood company New England Marine. He is also the President of the Sustainable Scalloping Fund – an organization representing 22 owners and 140 vessels.
