As per the review New England’s fishing rules are needed numerous reforms, including more accountability about whether the regulations actually work. The review report also include other recommendations like improving the timeliness and confidence in the science used as the basis for regulations, and a greater emphasis on developing and serving the fishing industry.
Eric Schwaab, the head the National Marine Fisheries Services, ordered the review last year after the chair of New England’s regional rulemaking body called the management process “antiquated and ineffective” in a 2009 letter. He has announced several recommendations in response to the new report, including increasing direct contact with fishermen, improving scientific collaboration with the industry and making data collection easier so rulemakers can work with the most recent information.
He told that the challenges rule makers face in New England did not happen overnight. The review comes as New England nears the April 30 end of the first fishing year under a controversial management system in which most fishermen divided into groups, called sectors, and divided an allotted catch of each species. The system aims to give fishermen flexibility as species rebuild, but some fishermen say the allotments were set unfairly low and are killing the industry.
After the review report John Pappalardo, chair of the New England Fishery Management Council, argued that the tangled bureaucracy simply wasn’t up to the task of enforcing the many new requirements of the nation’s fishing laws, calling the system driven by “process and protocol,” not outcomes. The review found efforts were being duplicated throughout the system, and said they lacked a shared strategy and vision for success.
