Commercial fishermen are expected to abide by the regulations set by the federal government.
So shouldn't the government committees and agencies that set those regulations be expected to abide by the laws that govern their authority?
The economic devastation wreaked by punitive regulation on seaport communities like Gloucester here in Essex County is proof that the regulators are ignoring sections of the law they apparently don't like.
Fortunately, it is not just fishermen and their advocates who are starting to question that conduct. The issue is also being raised in Congress by Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, whose House district includes the fishing port of New Bedford, and by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine.
In brief, the law that governs commercial fishing โ the Magnuson-Stevens Act โ requires regulators to make efforts to "minimize adverse economic impacts" when imposing conservation measures.
That is No. 8 of the so-called 10 National Standards, or goals, of the act.
But there is little to no evidence that the economic health of communities is a concern of the National Marine Fisheries Service or regional management councils, which decide things like catch quotas or the amount of time fishermen will be allowed to fish.