Despite a chorus of protest that the process was fatally flawed, there will be no reconsideration by federal regulators of sharp new restrictions on the scallop harvest, the New England Fishery Management Council declared this week.
Instead, the council issued a lengthy press statement defending its November decision to curtail the scallopers, a move that is expected to cost the industry one-quarter of its revenue this year, an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 per scallop fishing boat.
Tuesday was the informal 21-day advance deadline for setting the agenda for the council's three-day meeting that begins Jan. 26, according to Robert Vanasse, executive director of The Project to Save Seafood and Ocean Resources, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C., for the New Bedford fishing community.
But he said the legal deadline is actually 14 days in advance, meaning there is still a window of opportunity that closes next Tuesday.