July 15, 2020 — With COVID-19 still looming, the New England Fishery Management Council has crafted an array of digital alternatives to help commercial fishermen understand the options contained in the long-discussed and critical Amendment 23 that will set monitoring levels in the groundfish fishery.
The council, which expects to take final action on the measure at its September meeting, has moved the Amendment 23 public hearings to online webinars and has produced an online tutorial to help the webinar uninitiated participate and develop informed comment. It plans a narrated digital presentation on the measure and has scheduled “Amendment 23 outreach office hours” when fishermen can call in or participate via webinar with questions for council staff.
Given the complexities of the measure, however, fishing stakeholders said the council should continue to search for a way to safely hold at least some of the remaining public hearings in person to accommodate industry members not as well versed with the digital world.
“This is such an important and significant action that we hope the council will do everything possible to hold traditional public hearings, but with safe distancing and all the other precautions we need to take,” said Jackie Odell, executive director of the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition. “Taking it all online might be fair to some members of the industry, but not to all.”