February 26, 2015 — The period for public comment ends Monday on the fishing sectors' proposal to trade cod allocation for the elimination of some restrictive elements of the emergency cod measures NOAA Fisheries instituted last November in the Gulf of Maine.
So, barring comment that will sway NOAA to a different conclusion, a coalition of industry stakeholders and sector managers seem to have done something extraordinary: convince the federal fisheries management regulator to reconsider a policy deemed by fishermen to be overly restrictive, dangerous and economically unfair.
Both sides conceded the ultimate compromise on the emergency cod measures represents a departure from the way they usually interact and the oft-abrasive tenor their color their discussions.
"They deserve credit for reconsidering the measures and putting it back out there for comment," Vito Giacalone, executive director of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, said of NOAA's decision to revisit the emergency measures it instituted in the belief that the Gulf of Maine cod stock required immediate and sweeping protections. "Hopefully, this will help open their eyes and see what the sectors can do to help solve some of these problems."
Bullard was asked if he could recall another specific and significant instance where fishing industry stakeholders and his agency managed to find common ground after first starting at two widely spaced ends of the policy spectrum.
"In the two-and-a-half years that I've been here, it's always been a difficult situation," Bullard said. "I've always had to make difficult decisions. But we've always tried to keep the lines of communication open."
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times