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Ocean's chief: feds to cover fishery observer cost |
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BOSTON—The nation's oceans chief says the federal
government will cover what fishermen feared could be crushing costs for
the on-board observers that monitor how much they catch or throw
overboard.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Jane Lubchenco announced Wednesday that the observers would be funded by the government through the 2012 fishing year, which ends in April 2013. The observers are needed to monitor the catch under a new fishing system that relies on strict limits on how much a fisherman can catch or discard of a particular groundfish species, such as haddock or cod. If fishermen exceed the limit on one species, fishing stops on all species. The government paid the multimillion-dollar costs of bringing the observers to sea during the first two years under the new system, beginning in 2010. But fishermen were supposed to cover that cost this year. Fishermen and legislators have argued that the expense, an average of about $600 per day, would put more fishermen in the struggling industry out of business. Read the complete article from the Associated Press
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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."
