Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, met with some Morro Bay city officials and local fishermen to get feedback on how well a controversial new catch-share program is working. She also took a boat tour of the Morro Bay harbor.
Lubchenco said her Morro Bay visit was an opportunity to visit with fishermen from a smaller harbor and get feedback on how the catch-share program can be improved. Her harbor tour included stops at two boats involved in the catch-share program — the 35-foot Dorado and the 63-foot trawler South Bay.
Roger Cullen, captain of the Dorado, said that one improvement would be loosening the requirement that every catch-share trip have an observer onboard, which costs $350 per day. He said a better solution for smaller boats such as his would be to use video cameras to monitor what is brought aboard.
Lubchenco agreed that the program still has problems to work out, and it is not suitable for every fishery. The program was developed over a five-year period with input from the industry and is intended to give fishermen a stake in the future.
Local fishermen involved in the catch-share program have formed the Central Coast Sustainable Groundfish Association. They plan to use the group as a way to pool risk and involve the community in the program.
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