NEW BEDFORD — Political leaders were shocked and angry Friday as U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced there would be no help forthcoming for the region's fishing industry.
In a letter to Gov. Deval Patrick, Locke rejected the argument that catch shares and sector management were collapsing the fleet and threatening the area's fishing heritage.
He rejected both Patrick's plea for $21 million in direct financial help for struggling fishing families as well as the argument that allowable catch limits were set needlessly and punitively low.
The fishing community in New Bedford and Gloucester, in particular, was hoping Locke could be persuaded to raise catch limits so that boats could take enough fish to meet expenses, and that some financial help would be available to get fishing families through the winter.
But help isn't coming, and the reaction was almost uniformly anger and frustration.
Patrick responded in a statement, saying he was "deeply disappointed."
"Our agencies supplied him with more than sufficient evidence of economic distress and dislocation resulting from a poorly planned and executed transition to catch shares, and evidence based on the best available science that catch limits could be raised without undermining our conservation commitments. And yet the secretary denied outright our request for economic aid for impacted fishermen and a judicious increase in catch limits, and provided no alternative form of relief in its place."
"In doing so, I believe he has squandered an opportunity to relieve the economic hardship currently suffered by many fishing families and restore a sense of trust and goodwill toward the federal agencies who regulate their livelihood."
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank told The Standard-Times he is "very angry" at Locke for issuing his letter after Frank had asked him to hold off.
"It's just wrong and we have to appeal it," he said. "I'm very disappointed. I told them, 'I think you've made a mistake and you should hold off.' I'm very angry at them for not doing that."
New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang, while angry, had a different take. "I wouldn't want to be them," he said. "I think we've got them right where we want them. Seriously." New Bedford has joined Gloucester in suing Locke over the sector management and catch shares.
"I think that the secretary is getting some extremely narrow advice from the people at NOAA. It's the same opinions we've been dealing with now since about a year ago regarding catch shares. They're hell bent in implementing the system regardless of what the science said."
Rep. William M. Straus, D-Mattapoisett, said the core problem is catch shares themselves. "The real solution is not to be caught up in a species-by-species plea for help each year, but a full review of the experimental management system that the federal government is using for New England fisheries management," he said.
First word of Locke's decision came from U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.
Brown said: "Our fishermen are struggling to keep their jobs and make a living. They deserve fair treatment from the federal government instead of job-killing regulations that prevent them from putting food on the table for all of us. This blatant disregard for our fishing industry must stop immediately, and I strongly encourage Governor Patrick to appeal this ruling and request further meetings so the Commerce Department can fully explain their misguided decision."
U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., joined the chorus of distressed lawmakers. Speaking for himself and other lawmakers, he said: "We respectfully disagree with (Locke's) determination that he cannot make changes in the fishing catch share levels without new scientific evidence. I believe the secretary has the authority to raise fishing levels based on the information provided by Governor Patrick and the economic effects of the catch share program on Massachusetts fishermen. This is not over."
Read the complete story from The Standard Times.