NEWPORT, R.I. — September 30, 2010 — The New England Fishery Management Council voted on Wednesday against changing some key elements of the rules governing the commercial scallop fishery.
At a meeting at the Viking Hotel, a proposal to allow boat owners to lease their fishing days to other vessels was narrowly rejected with nine council members voting against, seven in favor and one abstention.
Rep. William Straus of Mattapoisett who chairs an environmental committee with jurisdiction on state fisheries spoke out against leasing, saying that any departure from resource management would change the council's role to that of "junior economists."
"If you are using the resources of the federal government to decide how this plays out economically, aren't you a little far afield from fisheries management?" he asked.
Another emotionally charged proposal — to allow owners with more than one boat to "stack" their fishing permits on a single fishing vessel — also failed but by a larger margin, with a motion to take no action passing by 11 votes to six.