NEW BEDFORD — Fisheries catch share systems will be ramped up at the expense of fisheries research if the proposed 2012 budget from NOAA is made law.
While the budget is being rolled out, lobbyists from the Environmental Defense Fund, whose former vice chairman is the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have reportedly been fanning out on Capitol Hill to sell Congress on the notion that catch shares are actually popular among the majority of fishermen.
In response, the Recreational Fishing Alliance, which organized last year's 5,000-member demonstration in Washington, D.C., against catch shares, is accusing the Environmental Defense Fund of falsely claiming that it represents the majority of fishermen.
"We had 5,000 fishermen waving flags and carrying signs at an open public protest last winter, and here it is almost a year to the day and EDF is still responding by slinking around in the shadows in Washington, pretending to represent fishermen," according to a Recreational Fishing Alliance statement.
NOAA administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco on Wednesday conducted an online press conference to discuss her proposed budget, which includes $1 million to fight lawsuits such as that filed against the Commerce Department by New Bedford and Gloucester over catch limits.
She also wants $36.6 million to be added to catch share implementation. Research and management would be cut by $17.4 million.
That shift in spending was flagged by a bipartisan group of 10 congressmen and senators in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke at midweek.
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