NEW BEDFORD, Mass – April 5, 2011 – First they took the show on the road. Now, after appearances in New Bedford and New Hampshire, the mayor's Ocean and Fisheries Council is taking its pitch to the Broadway of politics: Capitol Hill.
Frustrated with the attitude of the Commerce Department toward the plight of the Northeast fishing industry, the council has secured the use of a hearing room in the Capitol to present its case for a rethinking of Amendment 16, the Magnuson-Stevens Act rule-making that set up catch shares and sector management along with sharp reductions in allowable groundfish catch.
As of Monday midday, 37 people from as far away as Alaska had signed up to attend the two-hour session, which starts at 4 p.m. today, according to Chairman Dr. Brian Rothschild, dean emeritus of the UMass School for Marine Science and Technology.
Mismanagement at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been a hot-button topic in the Northeast for years, but it peaked in 2010 with the launch of Amendment 16 and a scathing report by the Commerce Department's inspector general, confirming law enforcement abuse and mishandling of seized assets.
In the run-up to the meeting, a spat broke out between New Bedford fishing interests and Richard Allen of Rhode Island, a fishing consultant who is listed as a "marine fellow" at the Pew Environment Group and who has the Environmental Defense Fund as a client. Both organizations back sector management; NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco is a former EDF vice chairman.
Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.