Anyone who’s followed the New England Fisheries Management Council over the years knows that it is not a body that is open to a lot of public input.
So it’s all the more amazing that the impassioned pleas of Mayor Scott Lang, Gov. Deval Patrick and Congressman Barney Frank have actually convinced the council to reverse itself.
The decision to restore fishing days to the scallop fleet (from 29 to 37) means that the council is finally beginning to listen to science presented by fishing interests as well as the science presented by environmentalists.
As Lang put it, it was inappropriate for the council to so sharply, and unnecessarily, reduce the scallop effort at a time when the economy is already reeling.