The New England Fishery Management Council is scheduled to debate and vote today on a re-engineering of the stable and lucrative $1 billion scallop fishery that would authorize an accumulation — or "stacking" — and leading of permits and could lead to a radical consolidation of the fleet.
Concerned about upsetting the present system that has made his city the nation's No. 1 cash value port, New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang has urged the council to go slow with changes to the scallop fishery, and is asking for a socio-economic impact study and an industry referendum before acting.
The impetus for the amendment to the scallop management plan is the requirement in the 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act to put the fishery under catch limits with penalties or "accountability measures."
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