The Fixed Gear Sector is one of two experimental sectors (cooperatives) formed on the Cape, the other being the now-dormant Hook Sector. The cities argue that the close relationship with NOAA policymakers gave the Cape sectors an insider's advantage. "These experimental sectors, unlike the plaintiffs, have been given a direct role in policymaking," the cities wrote in a memo to the court.
The city cited an e-mail from the sector's policy analyst to NOAA indicating a direct role in formulating the language of Amendment 16, which established catch shares and sector management in the Northeast.
"Thus the beneficiary of a proposed regulation was allowed to craft the very regulation from which it stood to benefit," the cities argued.
"This e-mail demonstrated the ongoing relationship between the defendants and the Fixed Gear and Hook Sectors — a relationship from which plaintiffs were excluded, that gave these sectors special access to the decision-makers and the ability to effect regulatory change that benefited them.
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