Several elected officials and representatives of New England’s groundfishing fleet have gathered at Boston to discuss issues with NOAA chief. They have discussed economic casualties from hard catch limits and a new management regime. NOA chief administrator Jane Lubchenco — who remains an advocate of both innovations, said that the catch limits and catch share systems are scheduled for implementation in New England beginning May 1.
The meeting was organized by Sen. John Kerry and fulfills a promise he made to industry members during a private meeting in Washington, D.C. after the mass “United We Fish” demonstration outside the U.S. Capitol last month. In the meeting Kerry described Lubchenco as a “friend” of the industry. But the conference — which is set to include new U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., along with Democratic U.S. House Reps. John Tierney, Barney Frank and William Delahunt and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray — comes with Lubchenco’s fisheries law enforcement system scandalized and her regulatory system under attack.
Commenting on a federal legislative proposal to grant more flexibility to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, she told that she believe the bill is the right solution. The New England groundfishery faces a shift to a partial catch share system, which Lubchenco long advocated while an academic scientist and as a vice chairwoman of the board with the Environmental Defense Fund.
The system for New England allows fishermen to avoid catch shares by remaining independent businessmen. Most of the industry chose to join sectors — voluntary fishing cooperatives — and work under catch shares. But NMFS allocations on pollock and some other species have raised questions as to whether there will be any viable “catch” for fishermen to share.
