New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang is right on the money in calling out Locke and other federal officials out and demanding he deliver the increases he said he'd consider.
Two full months ago tomorrow — Commerce Secretary Gary Locke vowed to consider increasing fishermen's catch limits amid an economic emergency — assuming that the fishing industry and its communities, such as Gloucester and New Bedford could show that the federal government's draconian regulations and limits have spurred an economic crisis.
So Gov. Deval Patrick and the likes of UMass-Dartmouth fisheries scientist Brian Rothschild pinpointed data showing New England's groundfishermen are grossly underfishing their waters due to flawed NOAA science and heavy-handed catch limits that are having dire economic effects on our region's fishing hubs.
Indeed, Patrick saw brighter days ahead with Locke stepping up to the regulatory plate. "It is clear (Secretary) Locke has made solving the fishing crisis a top priority," the governor told the Times and other media in an October Boston news conference.
So what's happened since?
Nothing, of course. Weeks after receiving clear data showing the need for raising the limit of several stocks, Locke and the Obama administration have delivered nothing regarding increased catch limits, ignoring science and case data every bit as much as agenda-driven "scientist" Lubchenco has done in the past.
Read the complete editorial from the Gloucester Times.