A letter from Ian Bowles, the Massachusetts Energy and Environment cabinet secretary with responsibility for fisheries issues to NEFMC chair John Pappalardo and members of the NEFMC, has been obtained by Saving Seafood.
The letter requests reconsideration of the November decision at the upcoming January 26th meeting (a request apparently denied in the agenda circulated yesterday to council members).
The secretary states that he believes the "Council's decision was not based on the best available science" and continues pointing out that the decision will have "dire and unnecessary economic impacts on communities that are already severely stressed."
Shortly after Secretary Bowles' letter was made public by Saving Seafood, The Fisheries Survival Fund praised Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and his administration for calling for the immediate reconsideration and reversal of the New England Fishery Management Council’s decision to restrict fishing opportunities for the Atlantic sea scallop fishery in 2010.
In a press release The Fisheries Survival Fund stated "As Secretary Bowles so correctly explains in his letter, the decision imperils the economic and social health of the scallop industry and fishing communities in Massachusetts and throughout the region, and would cause unnecessary damage to local, regional and national economies during these troubled economic times.”