The collapse of the so-called Jones Amendment amid congressional budgeting for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deals a blow to fishing interests whose plight is now even recognized by Gov. Deval Patrick as a documented "economic disaster" for Massachusetts and New England.
Indeed, the Jones Amendment — an earlier version of which passed the U.S. House last February — would have represented a logical means of getting a handle on NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco's and the Obama administration's job-killing catch share management system.
The amendment, filed by North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones, with the bipartisan backing of Massachusetts Democrats John Tierney and Barney Frank, would have cut off funding for expanding catch shares to any more U.S. fisheries, lest they follow New England's independent fishermen into the black hole of NOAA's Amendment 16, which has already driven 21 of 96 boats out of business last year in Gloucester's fleet alone. And it would have bought more time to assess New England's economic damage.
Read the complete editorial from the Gloucester Times.