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News Alerts Responding to Congressional and Industry Concerns, NOAA suspends requirement for dockside monitors to board vessels
News Alerts Responding to Congressional and Industry Concerns, NOAA suspends requirement for dockside monitors to board vessels |
Responding to Congressional and Industry Concerns, NOAA suspends requirement for dockside monitors to board vessels |
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The federal requirement that dockside monitors board fishing boats and enter the holds of vessels has been suspended, effective immediately.
NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator Pat Kurkul told Saving Seafood:
"NOAA today announced that it has postponed the newly implemented requirement for dockside monitors to inspect fish holds. While we continue to believe that the ability for dockside monitors to inspect fish holds is a crucial component to an effective dockside monitoring program, we also want to be responsive to the safety concerns raised." "We remain committed to helping the fishing industry to defray sector costs and reduce their reporting burden where we can. So, we are considering whether funding for dockside monitoring could be put to better use by providing additional funds to sectors to reduce their operating costs. We will have more on this soon."
The suspension was communicated to sector managers last evening in an email from Mark Grant, Sector Policy Analyst in the Sustainable Fisheries Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Regional Office in Gloucester. The text of that email follows: Good evening sector managers, Effective immediately, NMFS is suspending the requirement for dockside monitors to board vessels. This action is being taken in response to safety concerns raised by industry and the New England Fishery Management Council. Dockside monitors should immediately cease boarding vessels. NMFS is also considering phasing out funding for dockside monitoring and providing that funding directly to sectors for operational support. Additional information on this possibility will be provided in the near future.
Read the original story about the concerns in The Gloucester Times. Read the letter to Eric Schwaab from Senator Kerry. Read the joint letter to Eric Schwaab from the Northeast Seafood Coalition and the Associated Fisheries of Maine Read the letter from the New England Fisheries Management Council to Patricia Kurkul
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HASTINGS: Time to improve the Endangered Species Act
May 18, 2012 - When the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed into law in 1973 by President Nixon, he spoke about the importance of preserving “the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.” I believe that goal is as important today as it was back then. However, after nearly 40 years, it’s time to take a fresh, honest look at the law and consider whether there are ways it could be improved to do a better job of protecting and recovering species.
