August 3, 2015 — NOAA Fisheries has denied the request by the New England Fishery Management Council in June to use emergency measures to immediately suspend at-sea monitoring for vessels in the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s decision, which was not unexpected, signals the federal agency intends to proceed with its plan to shift the costs of at-sea monitoring — currently absorbed by NOAA — onto the groundfish permit holders later this month. It is estimated that will cost each boat an additional $700 to $800 each time a monitor is on board.
In a letter dated July 30, NOAA Regional Administrator John K. Bullard said the council’s request did not meet any of the criteria for emergency action.
“This was a foreseeable problem that does not justify an emergency action,” Bullard wrote to Tom Nies, executive director of the New England Fishery Management Council.
Bullard also discounted the safety element included in the underlying rationale for the council’s request, which asserted that shifting funding responsibility in mid-season could create safety issues by motivating fishermen to condense their fishing into the period when NOAA was paying for monitoring.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times