May 11, 2013 — A summit meeting of sorts is set for Monday to prepare for this year's reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that regulates commercial fishing.
The two-hour session at the New Bedford Whaling Museum will address a number of issues. It will include members of the Federal Fishing Advisory Board, organized by U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., and Mayor Jon Mitchell's Ocean and Fisheries Council.
Brian Rothschild, who is the chairman of the mayor's council, said, "There's been tremendous interest in the reauthorization of the Magnuson Act. On the one hand people feel it's a ways off, and other people have a lot to say."
Magnuson was tested in a lawsuit by New Bedford and Gloucester that tried to stop National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries from imposing catch shares and sector management in the Northeast in 2010. It is up for reauthorization in September and will be under scrutiny.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times