New England Fisheries Management Council Member David T. Goethel argues in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, that the New England Council failed to uphold the requirement that allocations shall be "fair and equitable to all fishermen".
Councillor Goethel states that the NEFMC failed to uphold the requirement in National Standard 4 that allocations shall be "fair and equitable to all fishermen" by allocating to the "two existing commercial fishery sectors their best 5 year period of Georges Bank cod and to the recreational fishery it’s historic 5 year high allocation of Gulf of Maine cod and haddock. The remainder of the commercial fishery was allocated the period of 1996-2006 based on catch history."
Councillor Goethel argues that the "problem could have been easily remedied by establishing a common, fair and equitable baseline of 1996-2006 for all user groups." But he says "the message was lost in the din of special interest groups clamoring for more than their fair share of the allocation."
He expressed concern that this could "result in a lawsuit that could hold up implementation of Amendment 16".
In his letter, he has urged the Commerce Secretary "to remand the [relevant] sections back to the New England Fisheries Management Council with clear instructions to put all user groups on a level playing field and comply with Congressional policy."