The latest U.S. House legislation targeting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's relentless push for chief Jane Lubchenco's job-killing catch share policy is clearly aimed at the right place.
The new bill, filed by three Republican congressmen — North Carolina's Walter Jones, New Jersey's John Runyon, and Florida's Ileana Ros-Lehtinen — would allow NOAA to launch new catch share systems only with the approval of members who work the fishery. It would also force the termination of any existing program when the total number of working fishermen within a given region fell by 15 percent. That's a figure that Gloucester's and New England's grounfishery, sadly, is likely approaching already.
The House legislation would piggback well on top of a Senate measure advanced by Massachusetts' own Scott Brown, whose FISH Act — for Fishery Impact Statement Honesty — would also require NOAA to assess the impact its heavy-handed tactics are having on fishing communities.
Read the complete editorial from The Gloucester Times.