In some ways, the letter by New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang to federal Inspector General Todd Zinser, calling for an independent federal investigation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's overall process for setting policies and fishing allocation limits, may seem a bit redundant.
After all, the cities of New Bedford and Gloucester have already joined a federal lawsuit challenging Amendment 16, the regulatory framework that includes NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco's beloved catch share management system. And Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has vowed to grant emergency allocation hikes if states and communities like Gloucester and New Bedford can document the need and viability for doing so.
But Lang's letter — backed by Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk — is indeed an important step forward. It pulls together the multiple issues at the core of this embattled agency and system.
In his message, Lang targets not only the tight allocations and the issues raised by NOAA enforcement, already the target of a scathing report from Zinser's office outlining a wide variety of enforcement excesses and abuses.
Read the complete editorial from The Gloucester Daily Times.