NEW BEDFORD — Scallop allocations might be a settled issue for now, but U.S. Rep. Barney Frank is going toe to toe with the head of NOAA over a series of other problems facing the fishing industry in the Northeast.
In a Jan. 29 letter to Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Frank, D-Mass., expressed frustration with the lack of urgency he believes NOAA is showing following an October meeting in Washington, D.C., between fishing representatives and government regulators.
Frank spelled out details of those concerns in an Oct. 26 letter to Lubchenco, calling for specific and immediate remedies for such things as the overfishing limit on pollock, the lack of government funds for mandatory observers on scallop boats, and the impending shrinkage of the fleet as "sectors" are introduced along with quotas strict enough to drive many boats out of business.
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