Under government management, the observer set-aside funds contributed by scallopers have run out before the end of the fishing year. The scallop industry received neither an apology nor an offer of compensation.
Under government management, the observer set-aside funds contributed by scallopers on all landings have been run out before the end of the fishing year. At the New England Fisheries Management Council Scallop Committee meeting on Wednesday, the scallop industry received neither an apology nor an offer of compensation from the National Marine Fisheries Service for this government management failure.
Those in the audience with industry interests were furious. They wanted, if not an offer then at least an apology. Since the industry has been paying for the Federal observer program since 2000 and now — under government management — the funds have been depleted, they are ask ‘why can’t the government fund the program for the rest of the fishing season?’ During the question and answer period, Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney who represents the Fishermen Survival Fund pointed out that observation is a federal activity, and accordingly this request was not extraordinary.
At the Crown Plaza—where the scallop committee meeting was held, Regional Office staffer Hannah Goodale, mentioned two words: ‘transparency’ and ‘communication’. She said that NMFS wanted to improve the Regional Office’s communication with the Science Center. She also spoke about making the set-aside program more transparent—for next year—giving the industry information on what is available in the actual set-aside program, as well as the goals of the program.
Industry observers said that there is no reason to wait until next year for increased transparency.