The election year cycle has brought many vital changes in the existing government of USA. Even the prospects for federal engagement on fisheries and aquaculture issues in 2008 seem uncertain at best. The U.S. commercial fishermen and domestic fish farmers are calling on the government to help the nation’s fisheries industry capitalize on a growing market which is now ruled by seafood imports.
In this process change the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the retirement of National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) director Dr. William Hogarth, who directed NMFS through an extraordinarily turbulent period of restrictive fisheries management and stock rebuilding efforts.
In his absence the NMFS will be in the wake of a controversial fall finding by the agency that still has the Northeast commercial fishing industry reeling. Commercial Fisheries News editorial noted that the rules restricted the hundreds of fishermen in such a away that they leaving the dock. There are more fish but the fishermen are not allowed to keep very many of them due to management restrictions.
Fishermen demand some relief from these crippling restrictions; they will not financially survive long enough to be around if and when all fisheries stocks can be rebuilt to target levels. They demand that NMFS should reconsider its findings and it is true that the current political environment do not allow to have a quick result.
Dr. Michael Rubino, aquaculture program manager at NMFS, said that if new legislation enacted then the National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2007 (H.R. 2010 and S. 1609) would grant the secretary of commerce authority to issue permits for offshore aquaculture in federal waters and establish a research program to support all types of marine aquaculture, not just offshore.
