Not much was clear after an all-day meeting and vote by the New England Fishery Management Council on changes to the impending new regulatory regime on commercial fishing.
And that does makes one thing abundantly clear: That new regime, due to take effect next May, should be delayed for at least a year.
It is a disaster in the making. It is poorly planned, not credible (since it is based on bogus statistics), chaotic and confusing.
The survival of the fishery is not at stake either. The current regulatory structure, which limits the number of days fishermen can spend fishing, has already resulted in improved populations of most species. One more year will surely not reverse that trend.