News Management & Regulation Jack Spillane: Not yet up to speed, fisheries agency head holds fast to 'science' |
Jack Spillane: Not yet up to speed, fisheries agency head holds fast to 'science' |
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Eric Schwaab sat, alone and quiet, in the front row of the New Bedford Whaling Museum Monday.
The new head of the National Marine Fisheries Service did not so much as flinch as the movers and shakers of the New England fishery repeatedly described his agency as everything that is wrong with out-of-touch government bureaucracy. Everyone from Congressman Barney Frank to Gov. Deval Patrick to the owners of the city's scallop and groundfish fleet weighed in on behalf of the city's largest industry, a $241 million (in seafood landings) port that could be cut in half if new NMFS regulations go into effect this spring. It was billed as the Northeast Fisheries Summit, and Schwaab, for the day, was as captive as a scallop in a dredge. Of 17 scheduled panelists, only one (Julie Wormser of the Environmental Defense Fund) spoke in defense of NMFS regulations. The commercial fishing industry says NMFS regulations — which will soon divide the fishery into sectors — restrict their livelihood according to rigid and out-of-touch bylaws.
Read the complete story at The South Coast Today [subscription site] |
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EDITORIAL: Three months in, new fishing rules bring disarray
The catch share system was rolled out prematurely without the level of analysis, planning, budgeting, and community dialogue that would be expected to be associated with a major federal action.
