On one hand, it makes sense for the National Marine Fisheries Service to further extend the deadline for fishermen to join one of 16 fishing cooperatives — or "sectors" — now being firmed up for the debut of the controversial catch share management system in New England starting May 1.
But if an agency is going to make that type of change, shouldn't it at have spoken to the sectors' prime organizers to see how it might impact their work?
When Jane Lubchenco took the reins of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, parent of NMFS, last spring, one of her promises was to tackle the "dysfunctional" relationship between fishermen and their regulators. Yet Kurkul's changing of the deadline without communicating with the Seafood Coalition shows just how dysfunctional fishery management continues to be.
If the Obama administration is truly looking for "change" and more inclusion, that word hasn't gotten to the folks at NOAA and NMFS.
Fishery management needs trust and communication between the government and the industry. This issue is just one more sign of how wide that gap remains.