December 18, 2012 — Listen to the WGBH Boston 30-minute interview with NOAA’s Fisheries Service Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center Science and Research Director Bill Karp.
John Bullard stepped into the middle of this charged situation when he took over as northeast regional administrator of NOAA’s Fisheries Service in August of this year. It’s the latest step in a career largely dedicated to ocean science. He was mayor of New Bedford from 1986 until 1992. He then went to Washington to lead NOAA’s first Office of Sustainable Development under President Bill Clinton. He was a member of the Massachusetts Ocean Advisory Panel that created Massachusetts’ first-of-its-kind Ocean Plan, and he led the Sea Education Association until he took up his new post this past summer.
Dr. Bill Karp is also part of a new guard moving in to help find a way to address New England’s fishing woes. He was named the new Science and Research Director of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center this past summer.
When John Bullard took office, he was quoted as saying "science is the foundation of everything." Indeed, the federal legislation that mandates fisheries management requires that regulations be based on the “best available science.” But defining “best available science” can be tricky. Does it mean annual stock assessments? Or more detailed assessments every few years? Should assessment techniques be as up-to-date as possible? Or held the same to ensure comparability from year to year? And what about social science?
Listen to the interview and read the story at WGBH Boston