The last time our federal fishing regulators scheduled a major public forum for commercial fishermen, it was designed for key figures within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's law enforcement wing to outline what fishermen needed to do to comply with new regulations.
Fishermen — backed by Mayor Carolyn Kirk, and local state lawmakers Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Bruce Tarr — quite properly threatened a boycott, recognizing that some of the presenting agents were the real perpetrators of wrongdoing, as documented by a federal Inspector General's report. So NOAA — willing as always to respond to a legitimate challenge — abruptly canceled the forum.
Now, its National Marine Fisheries Service has scheduled another series of meetings, from Maine to New York. And this time, it's different. These meetings should draw fishermen by the proverbial boatload, from Portland and Gloucester to Rhode Island and Long Island over the next four weeks.
Read the full editorial in the Gloucester Times