Gulf of Maine fishery deserves better than this (op-ed ME Sunday Telegram)

[jpak]

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/viewpoints/mvoice/060723gulfofme.shtml

A common misconception about New England's fishing industry is that it is a homogenous community with similar cultural values and a similar political agenda.

In fact, the fleet is comprised of a range of business scales and interests that are often reflected in competing policy stances.

The face-off over the reauthorization of the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, the country's guiding legislation for commercial fisheries, well illustrates the point.

Recently, U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, a conservative Republican from California, co-sponsored a bill with U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts, that would substantially weaken the conservation elements of the current law.

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[freethought]

1. The entire management scheme for U.S. fisheries has to be changed

I have been watching this go down for years. Fisheries management in America is generally one big joke.
Who are the people on the regional fisheries councils who are ultimately the ones who make the decisions regarding their use? They are captains of the fish packing industry, boat or fleet owners, and other related businesses. Those who profit from the exploitation are in charge of managing the resource. It is the classic "fox guarding the hen house" situation. Contrary to what some believe the scientists who study the fisheries only make recommendations to the fishery councils based on the data they have collected an analyzed.

Then there is the fisherman themselves. I may get flamed for this but here goes. Some time ago, Sen. Kennedy and Kerry were able to get some money from Congress to do a boat buy back program in Massachusetts. The object was to reduce the Mass fishing fleet and hopefully take some of the pressure of the fish stocks. The project sort of followed a saying that 1% of the boats catch 99% of the fish.
The govt. would buy back the boats and scrap them. What happened? Well, the fisherman and boat owners took money, handed over the boats and then took the cash to make down payments on bigger and better equipped fishing boats. The program was an abject failure. Aside from that there also seems to be an unwillingness of these fisherman to face change. There are untold numbers of people who have faced the dilemma of having to change careers and acquire new skills. It's that or make a living flipping burgers.
Why should those in commercial fishing be any different.

I read this article in its entirety. I am convinced of one thing, if this country wants to sustain these fisheries for the long term, the whole management structure has got to be changed.