By their nature and charge by the Science and Statistical Committee of the New England Fishery Management Council at its January meeting, the 18 committee members — including 15 Ph.ds — are focused on conflicting theories of how to measure risk in determining the size of the catch to be allowed commercial fishermen out of Gloucester and elsewhere off New England's coasts.
But the document assigned for analysis by the committee is a report prepared by the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute for Gov. Patrick.
It was invited and sent to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke last November. And it purported to show that Amendment 16 — a package of new laws, hyper-conservative catch limits, and the catch-share management system, which encourages fishermen to buy, sell or trade shares of their assigned catch — had thrown the long-struggling industry into a tailspin and justified emergency secretarial action allowing more fishing and direct economic relief..
"The cumulative economic impacts … all contribute to decreased revenue for a significant portion of the industry, rapid consolidation of fishing businesses, rise in unemployment and reduced infrastructure," the authors wrote.
Paul Howard, the council's executive director, has agreed to give the committee wide latitude to explore economic implications of the policy. Howard was lobbied to loosen the reins of the council's limitations by UMass-Dartmouth's Brian Rothschild, a champion of the industry and linchpin for the political and scientific fishing industry sectors.
"I did not believe that the terms of reference as originally framed by the council would enable the Science and Statistical Committee to fully inform the council on the critical issues in the governor's report," Rothschild said in an e-mail to the Times.
"I suggested to Paul Howard that the TORs be modified to include discussion … of the economic analysis in the governor's report, what is meant by best available science, and views on the extensive difficulties on defining 'risk of overfishing.'"
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Times.