The vote was vindictive in that it was made in the face of the recommendations by the council's own Scientific and Statistical Committee. These experts agree that fishing at the present rate is both reasonable and sustainable in a fishery that has been rebuilt to 150 percent of its target biomass. This 150 percent of target biomass has been achieved by years of sacrifice and innovative cuts proposed, supported and implemented by the industry.
I myself am becoming disillusioned by the process in which council members are driven by their own agendas. The head of the scallop committee that led this vote is an employee of the Environmental Defense Fund. This is comparable to having the head of PETA run a livestock auction in Kansas City.
The rest of the council members voting to cut and punish the scallop industry did so to serve their own self-interests as well. These interests range from garnering favor from the environmentalists to snatching a bigger share of the bycatch resource for their pet fisheries (i.e., recreational fishing and groundfishing).
On the other hand, the scallop fishery itself and the supporting infrastructure which has helped elevate New Bedford to the No. 1 port in the country for the last 10 years has no representation on the council.
As we continue down this slippery slope of ignorant people making wrong, self-serving decisions, we are on the brink of rendering an industry and its infrastructure as its own endangered species.