NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — August 1, 2012 — Massachusetts congressmen continued to back fishermen Tuesday, calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to change the way it assesses Georges Bank's yellowtail stock.
"These assessments are kind of approximations but they have very binding effect on the fishery," Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., told The Standard-Times. "Every last ounce of energy should be used to make sure they're as correct as possible because they have such extraordinary consequences."
Following an approximately 60 percent cut in 2012, the cut in the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder quota will be about 51 percent in 2013, according to Maggie Mooney-Seus, spokeswoman for the NOAA Fisheries Service.
Frank joined Reps. William Keating and John Tierney in signing a letter Tuesday to Samuel D. Rauch III, acting assistant administrator for fisheries at the Fisheries Service. The letter calls the assessment of the yellowtail stock "unsuitable."
"Flawed science cannot be the basis of significant cuts to our critical fishing industry," Frank, Tierney and Keating argued.
Mooney-Seus said officials would review the letter and reach out to the congressmen about their recommendations.
The stock assessment draws on several years of independent surveys by the United States and Canada since Georges Bank spans both countries, according to Mooney-Seus.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times.