SavingSeaFood - Barney Frank takes on White House over fishing regs

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Barney Frank takes on White House over fishing regs

NEW BEDFORD — Calling the U.S. Commerce Department's attitude toward the fishing industry “unacceptable,” an angry U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is threatening to withhold cooperation with the Obama White House “on a number of important issues.”

In a scathing op-ed commentary, Frank said, “Last week, the Obama administration violated assurances that it was prepared to work constructively with the fishing industry in New England.

“The administration had begun to follow through on some of what it promised last fall, but the wholly negative tone both of its decisions last week and of the language it used to justify them undermine my confidence that we can count on these commitments going forward.”

A public meeting of Mayor Scott Lang's fishing advisory council is set for 4 p.m. Thursday to discuss the refusal of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to invoke his emergency powers to raise catch limits and supply financial help for the regional fishing industry as it struggles with a new catch share system.

Read the complete story from the South Coast Today.

MELISSA WOOD, NATIONAL FISHERMEN: Meting out the meager

May 22, 2012 - Listening to the New England Council's Groundfish Advisory Panel talk about how that industry is going to pay for monitoring costs is kind of like trying to figure out how to pay your bills when you've just lost your job. Though monitoring is important keeping costs down is critical. As Panel Member Gary Libby pointed out, "If we had 100 percent monitoring we probably wouldn't have an industry."

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