David T. Goethel asks Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to remand parts of NEFMC Amendment 16 back to the Council stating the allocations were not "fair and equitable."
New England Fisheries Management Council Member David T. Goethel argues in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, that the NEFMC failed to uphold the requirement in National Standard 4 that allocations shall be "fair and equitable to all fishermen" by allocating to the "two existing commercial fishery sectors their best 5 year period of Georges Bank cod and to the recreational fishery it’s historic 5 year high allocation of Gulf of Maine cod and haddock. The remainder of the commercial fishery was allocated the period of 1996-2006 based on catch history."
Councillor Goethel argues that the "problem could have been easily remedied by establishing a common, fair and equitable baseline of 1996-2006 for all user groups." But he says "the message was lost in the din of special interest groups clamoring for more than their fair share of the allocation."
Goethel :
https://www.savingseafood.org/management-regulation/nefmc-member-says-sector-baselines-and-allocations-are-not-fair-asks-commerce-secretary-to-remand-2.html