Paul Weckesser, a New Bedford scallop boat owner, wrote the following in a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe.
"The National Marine Fisheries Service’s Scientific and Statistical Committee reported that 80 million pounds of scallops could be legally caught without exceeding the overfishing limit, and that 65 million pounds of caught scallops was both sustainable and precautionary with only a 25 percent chance of the scallop biomass being overfished. The scallop industry supported a proposed catch of 47 million pounds, 18 million pounds less than the conservative allowable catch that would keep the 2010 fishing days at sea the same as 2009."
"When the scallop industry realized it was going to lose more fishing days without a reasonable explanation, it asked local, state, and federal representatives for support in persuading the council to revisit the issue. Governor Patrick asked the council chairman, John Pappalardo, to come to his office on a Sunday in order to understand the issue, and to ask Pappalardo to allow the council to reconsider its vote."