May 10, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Bill Keating sees a finish line in sight to get New Bedford’s groundfishing boats back to work.
The Democratic U.S. representative spoke with NOAA’s regional administrator Mike Pentony on Wednesday and came away with the belief that the operational plans in Sectors VII and IX would be approved soon, potentially as soon as a few weeks.
“There’s great progress now on the road to beginning to fish,” Keating said. “And that’s good news.”
Keating said the rule-making process would be finalized for each sector by the end of the month. NOAA released its final rule allotting quota to sectors or fishing divisions at the end of April for the start of the 2018 fishing season. Sectors VII and IX were not provided quota.
After the rule is finalized, a comment period is required.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times