August 26, 2015 — To NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard: As a fellow MIT alumnus, I am baffled at your stubborn adherence to a fish monitoring plan that the most cursory analysis shows is not only unsustainable, but will simply not provide the data you say you need to understand New England fish populations.
Unfortunately, you have painted yourself into a corner by making enemies of the most valuable source of information on New England fish — the fishermen themselves:
–You have branded them as biased liars whose reports cannot be trusted — hence the need for “monitors.”
— You have established draconian quotas that force fishermen to avoid certain species, then use the low quantities seen of these fish to prove there aren’t any.
— You have attempted to find fish with your own boats and use your lack of success as proof that the fish have not recovered.
Read the full letter at the Gloucester Daily Times