John Bullard is the newly-appointed Northeast administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration–or NOAA–the federal agency that oversees the fishing industry, among other things. With much of the commercial fishery in crisis, Bullard, who is the former mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, decided the first thing to do in his new job was to undertake a "listening tour" to hear the concerns of those who work in the industry. That tour has brought him to Maine, where he heard from fishermen in Portland yesterday. Tomorrow he heads to Ellsworth to listen some more. Today, he came to our Portland studios and talked with Maine Things Considered host Tom Porter.
Listen to the audio from MPBN.