New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang said Wednesday the notorious, disputed and belatedly clarified fishermen's letter to Congress and NOAA national and regional officials didn't help the cause toward needed changes.
But Lang urged the industry to step back and take stock of ways Congress can remedy the system.
"Why are people apprehensive?" he said in a telephone interview. "Let's get everyone together and talk through pursuing the move to reform NOAA.
He said the answer to his question is that people "don't know what comes next."
But, "If NOAA follows the law, something better will come out," added Lang, who has spearheaded a court challenge to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's system of groundfish regulations.
Signed by more than 100 fishermen, the letter sparked a debate now in its third week over vague accusations about "a few voices calling for the overturn of the entire sector system," and "the media" for amplifying the radical notions until elected officials tuned in.
Read the complete story by Richard Gaines in The Gloucester Times