The management system Dr. Rothschild calls "broken and dysfunctional" is the same system that tripled total sea scallop fleet revenues from about $120 million in 1994 to over $450 million in 2010, rebuilt Georges Bank stocks of haddock, redfish, winter flounder, brought Gulf of Maine cod back from near collapse, and has sustainably managed the monkfish and herring fisheries to the point where they are no longer overfished. All of these improvements have directly benefitted New England fishermen.
The council as a body is well aware that the groundfish industry is adjusting to a new catch shares harvesting strategy. Many fishermen are struggling under low annual quotas that are in place to improve the condition of overfished stocks. Others are hampered by the existing groundfish conservation area closures, a topic that is on the council's docket for further action. Still others who operate in harvesting cooperatives are learning to deal with the internal rules set by their own groups.
Overall, many fishermen are adjusting to the new program that most certainly promotes accountability, allows much greater harvesting and marketing flexibility, and gets the government out of the day-to-day micromanaging of each individual operator.
Moreover, the distasteful practice of discarding legal-sized fish overboard has been largely abandoned now that groundfish fishermen no longer fish under a program based on very restrictive harvesting days coupled with poundage limits on the fish allowed per trip.
None of this implies the council is ignoring its obligations to take a close look at the management program it put in place, along with NOAA Fisheries and ultimately the approval of the secretary of commerce.
Read the complete opinion piece from The South Coast Today