FROM THE CROWE’S NEST

Cut the Deadwood

Well, they’ve done it again. The can’t be fired, can’t be penetrated, can’t be moved and they know it, National Marine Fisheries Service has been called out onto the carpet again to do the NMFS’ shrug.

In February, US District Court Judge Edward Harrington of Massachusetts challenged the NMFS decisions on the Framework 42 Interim Rule on groundfish. The rule would ban most ground fishing and charge permits twice for every day fished. Congressman Barney Frank has said the rule will raise significant safety risks sending fishermen further offshore.

What’s more, an alliance of seven U.S. Senators, including Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine and Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, agreed to “not permit NMFS to regulate the nation’s first fishery out of existence.”

Arrogance and disregard are terms often heard used to describe this federal agency. At the February NEFMC meeting a fishermen asked the council what the trip limit will be as a result of the legal action on Framework 42. The council shrugged. Regional NMFS administrator Patricia Kurkel told him to write a letter to the judge. Write a letter asking about trip limits to the judge who told the agency that they, NMFS, were not doing their job?!?

The following week, NMFS charged the Gloucester Seafood Auction there with 59 violations going back to 2004. Charges with $335,000 in fines and a four month shutdown. Charges that had had no hearing, and no chance to refute them. It is the only market fishermen have between Boston and Portland, Maine.

It is clearly time to address accountability measures. Not the “AMs “ that NMFS is setting for fishermen, but the ones fishermen, and their congressmen ought to be putting together for the federally funded, National Marine Fisheries Service.

It appears NMFS has chosen to model its management practices after the former Soviet Union. Eliminating thousands in an industry so that a few can control it is more social engineering than democratic process. With the NMFS track record of so many failures in so many fisheries, does anyone believe this group should be doing social experiments.

Congress needs to clean house at NMFS. Only sweeping changes in management will get the democratic, and functional fisheries management the industry needs. It’s time to cut the deadwood.