The following, and many other problems with Amendment 16, the new system of regulating groundfish, popped up in meetings in New Bedford and Gloucester last week Only about one third of the New Bedford boats have been working, according to industry and government estimates made last week. And those that are working are grappling with a variety of issues, including: Computer software that does not work correctly in allowing instantaneous reporting of boats' comings and goings as required. Mandates requiring that fish coming up half eaten by predators and thus spoiled must be kept in the hold with the good — thus jeopardizing the whole catch. Statistical rules that allow gaming the system of on-board observers — and observers who do not appear to be either knowledgeable or trained. In Gloucester on Friday, Mayor Carolyn Kirk led a 90-minute meeting to exchange reports on the first six weeks of Amendment 16. Vito Giacalone, policy director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, told the Gloucester gathering that the satellite communications technology at the core of the system is overburdened and is reliable only 25 percent of the time. Tina Jackson, a commercial fisherman and president of the American Alliance of Fishermen and their Communities, objected to the claim made in an interview by Eric Schwaab, who heads the NOAA Fisheries office, that fishermen can't catch enough to satisfy the American demand for fish. She scoffed and told the bureaucrats, who work under Schwaab, that the problem was the allocation not the capacity of the fleet. We're striving to improve," said Dan Morris, an assistant to NOAA fisheries regional director Patricia Kurkul — who was not present in New Bedford and is not expected for tonight's Gloucester session in the Blackburn Industrial Park building that houses her own office. Read the full Gloucester Times story
