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18 Federal Lawmakers Request Reconsideration of Scallop Decision |
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18 members of Congress wrote to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today expressing their "extreme disappointment with the New England Fishery Management Council's decision to reduce fishing days atsea for the scallop fishery. The lawmakers asked the Commerce Secretary to take immediate actioninstructing the New England Fishery Management Council to revisit the original proposals in January. They cited a letter from the director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to the NationalMarine Fisheries Service, in which Director Paul Diodati noted thatscience and planning committees' information regarding probability ofoverfishing was never brought by the Scallop Committee to the Council. "In fact," Director Diodati wrote "the Committee had nothing to offeron this critical issue. I believe this omission played a key role inthe Council adopting an F of ).20 with all its attendant consequences." The eighteen signers wrote "The absence of any presentation to the fullCouncil by the Scallop Committee of the scientific recommendations ofthe SSC and PDT is a significant omission and warrants seriousreview...given the expectant economic losses that would result fromsuch an unnecessarily conservative proposal." They noted that "fisherymanagers are supposed to take into account the scientificrecommendations..." The letter was signed by: |
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33 Fishing Community Members Say Permit Bank, Giacalone are pluses for Gloucester
This permit bank is a true local treasure for our fishing community and related businesses. Its existence has been one of the only positive things to come to this fishing community in decades.
