SEAFOODNEWS.COM Letters: May 13, 2015
To Seafood.Com
In response to John Sackton’s editorial on the reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Act as well as Rod Moore’s response, I offer the following.
As someone who has operated under Magnuson Stevens Act and American Fisheries Act since the inception of those laws, and involved in the groundfish industry in New England for more than 40 years, and having served on the NEFMC for 9 years, I for the most part agree with Rod Moore.
The rigid arbitrary rebuilding timelines and unrealistic rebuilding targets that almost no one thinks are realistically achievable and that do not reflect current ecological conditions, along with very thin survey data that some would argue is not statistically valid, constitute a recipe for failure.
The whipsaw of drastic changes from one year to the next in the assessments all point to the much needed flexibility on rebuilding time lines and targets.
It has been impossible for the managers to craft any sort of achievable and realistic fishing plans and as a result we have witnessed the disappearance of whole segments of the industry – vessels, infrastructure and communities.
Flexibility on rebuilding timelines would not harm the status of fish resources and would not add to any over fishing, and just might help the industry here in New England survive especially the inshore fleet and communities.
James A. Odlin
(Jim Odlin is the owner of Atlantic Trawlers Fishing Inc., which operates five vessels)
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.