January 27, 2010: [click here to listen to the MP3 audio file]
Statement of New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang before the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC)
OPINION: NOAA chief can’t put off action vs. rogue fishing cops
It's been seven days now since the U.S. Department of Commerce Inspector General issued a blistering report on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's enforcement actions against the fishing industry.
That's seven days since IG Todd Zinser found, "systemic, nationwide issues adversely affecting NOAA's ability to effectively carry out its mission." Among those "issues" were inconsistent, heavy-handed enforcement by rogue agents who were essentially accountable to no one.
Yet nobody has apparently been fired, demoted, reassigned or suspended. Nobody has been disciplined or even rebuked publicly. The only expressions of outrage or vindication have been very justified outcries from political leaders, fishermen and others close to the industry.
The only real response from NOAA head Jane Lubchenco — who promised last year to fix the "dysfunctional" relationship between her agency and the industry — has been to call for a national "summit" on enforcement policies and practices, where presumably environmental and academic groups will join hands with commercial and recreational fishermen and walk together into some glowing new era of mutual understanding.
That's worse than wishful thinking. It's a shameful refusal to confront or even acknowledge an obvious problem. And it's one that even raises new questions — as in, why should the environmental and academic groups have a seat at any such summit? Yes, Lubchenco's background is as an academic, and she's a former vice president with the Environmental Defense Fund. But what in the world do they have to do with fisheries law enforcement?
Why Chairman Pappalardo acted as he did. Plans to avoid future confrontations
A day after hotly disputed cuts to the Atlantic scallop catch were revoked, the head of the council that made the decision said reform is urgently needed to remove any hint that its actions are tainted by politics.
New England Fishery Management Council chairman John Pappalardo said Thursday that the council must provide a way to protest its decisions, so that the heavy political pressure applied in the scallop case isn't the only option for people who disagree.
Some environmentalists said the council chose politics over science Wednesday when it restored a 22 percent cut in scallopers' fishing days.
Pappalardo denied that, but said, "If we don't do our work to set up a process if there's a grievance … we do run the risk of being challenged again on this."
Fishing council reverses decision to reduce scallop harvest
A fishing council in New Hampshire that regulates scallop harvests from Maine to North Carolina on Wednesday, January 27, reversed a decision it made in November to reduce scallop harvests by nearly 25 percent, a call that pleased New Jersey’s commercial scallopers.
The scallopers said the cuts would have hurt them economically; environmentalists said the ruling set back efforts to conserve other species affected by the scallop dredges.
Scallopers made their case for about six hours Wednesday at a meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council in New Hampshire. The council listened, and then reversed its earlier decision.
Panama City, Florida: Catching Your Share
Panama City Beach News raises questions about catch shares.
Have you ever been deep sea fishing? Until last summer, I hadn’t. Which is rather surprising, since I grew up here on the Gulf Coast and spent most of my impressionable days on the deck of one boat or another. It was a warm day in late May. The first few catches were decent B-liners (Vermillion Snapper). The next week Red Snapper season opened and I’m still not sure who was more hooked, me or the fish. The fight at the bottom of the line made dinner taste that much better. I’m not alone. Offshore fishing is big business.
Recreational fishing affects every facet of our tourist driven economy. The marketing committee of the TDC understands this. In a recent meeting there were several references to fishing. “People come here for the fishing.” The TDC wants to make sure that potential visitors know that there is great fishing from the new County Pier. Sure fishing is fun… after the beach, after the water park, after the golf… Let’s go fishing! But for some it is more than something to check off the list of things to do, it is the main reason they come to Panama City Beach.
Read the complete story at Panama City Beach News and Information.
Boston Globe: Fishing council overturns controversial scallop decision
The new decision will allow scallop fishermen to catch about seven million more pounds of scallops a year than what the November decision called for – a catch ultimately worth an estimated $250 million to New Bedford, according to Mayor Scott Lang.
"The council was a little too cautious back in November,'' Lang said in a telephone interview from the New Hampshire meeting. 'What they did today is have a full debate and went with a more moderate option. It won't result in overfishing, it won't go toward an edge, its merely the middle ground."
Some environmental groups however, decried the decision, saying the council put short-term profits ahead of the long-term health of the scallop fishery.
"Politics clearly triumphed over sound science today," said Dave Allison, senior campaign director at Oceana. "This is a perfect example of how politics can interfere with the Council’s responsibility and authority as an ‘advisor to NOAA’ to manage fishery resources."
EDF statement on NEFMC scallop vote
The Environmental Defense Fund has issued the following statement on the New England Fisheries Management Council vote to reverse its November decision. Statement by EDF's New England Oceans Program director Julie Wormser on the New England Fisheries Management Council decision to revise its recommendation on scallops:
Yesterday the New England Council voted to increase the 2010 harvest rate for sea scallops, increasing expected revenues for fishermen and their families by $40 million, which will assist fishing families through a continued tough recession.
The council voted in November for a lower fishing limit, seeking to balance the needs of scallopers and groundfishermen to access a mutually limiting resource — yellowtail flounder — and to meet a legal mandate to protect endangered sea turtles.
Yesterday's vote to increase harvest levels was made possible after groundfishermen and scallopers worked out a compromise which allowed scallopers to access more yellowtail flounder in 2010.
Unfortunately, the contentious and difficult process by which the council revisited this decision was awful and should not happen again. Fishery management must be based on the best possible information and developed through a public process. I support the council's commitment to develop proposed criteria and processes so that this kind of process breakdown doesn't happen again.
“A Good Fisheries Decision” by Massachussetts State Senator Bruce Tarr
Today I was compelled to appear before the New England Fisheries Management Council in Portsmouth, N.H. to request that it reconsider a recent decision to reduce allowable scallop catch to below levels which are sustainable biologically and needed for the viability of the Massachusetts fleet.
This was a case of seeking fairness and sound, rational decision making on behalf of our fishing families.
Fortunately, the council took decisive and responsible action to reverse its prior actions, and I commend the members for the stewardship of our resources and our fishing industry that they demonstrated today.
Gov. Deval Patrick’s statement on the NEFMC scallop decision
Gov. Patrick released the following statement on the NEFMC scallop decision. “Chairman Pappalardo and the New England Fisheries Management Council did right today by Massachusetts scallopers," said Governor Patrick. “By revisiting the scientific data and revising their previous decision on scallop catch, they struck a better balance for fishermen and the resource on which they depend. I look forward to continuing a strong partnership with the Council to use sound science and fair regulation to manage our precious fisheries resources. I also commend Congressman Barney Frank and New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang for their continued tireless advocacy on behalf of this industry and the families that depend upon it."