September 29, 2015 — PLYMOUTH, Mass. — The fisheries observer program that looms over the industry in the Northeast won’t go out for public comment until at least December, the New England Fisheries Management Council decided Tuesday.
Years in the making, the preliminary draft of the measure numbers about 500 pages, testimony to the complexity of the effort.
Then there is the cost, which the council staff researched and broke down. It detailed the costs of what the industry will have to pay, and what it will cost the government.
Monitoring estimates by at-sea monitors, who will record bycatch, or fish that are thrown back, stands at $710 per day from the boat and $530 in costs to the government.
But a distinction has crept into the discussion, the difference between the observer program and the monitoring program. Observers are better educated, do more, and will cost boats $818 a day and the government $479.
Read the full story at New Bedford Standard -Times