In congressional meeting high ranking officials of federal government admits flaws with the catch share system. Dr. Rebecca Blank, the undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs and President Barack Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of commerce, admits that catch share system needs more transparency and communication and collaboration in order to move ahead. Blank also called for better explanation of the science about fish stock sizes and catch limits.
He added that in past there has not been as much consultation back and forth in terms of NOAA’s interactions with some of the fisheries councils in an open and completely transparent way with some of the fisheries councils in the New England region. The fight over catch share, the latest fisheries management mandate implemented in 2010, has become a political flashpoint and a major issue for many New Hampshire commercial fishermen.
Experts believe that this legislation would help level the playing field for independent small fishermen by scrapping unreasonable federal mandates that are killing jobs while giving local fishing communities more control during the program establishment process. The catch share system, which went into effect in May 2010, is the latest attempt by the federal government to balance the need for rebuilding depleted groundwater fish stocks with the economic needs of fishermen to stay in business.
