Last week's landmark deal between the groundfishing and scallop industries is being seen as a sure sign that the so-called "catch share" system being pushed by the Obama administration's National Oceanic and Atmospheric chief Jane Lubchenco can work for the overall New England fishery.
And it does offer evidence of how catch share bartering can work.
But it is important — very important — to take note of why the deal came about, and why it even surfaced in the first place:
It made sense only because groundfishermen and scallopers had a viable trade to make to give scallopers the added quota they needed — and deserve. And the opportunity only rose because of enormous pressure from political leaders, ranging from Congressman Barney Frank and Gov. Deval Patrick to New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang, placed on the New England Fishery Management Council, and its chairman, John Pappalardo.
The agreement calls for the groundfishermen to give about 200,000 pounds of their yellowtail flounder allocation to the scallopers in exchange for financial consideration that has not yet been determined.