Saving Seafood has recieved a letter from NOAA's New England Regional Administrator Patricia Kurkul, responding to the scheduling of meetings by local elected officials in Massachusetts. The text follows:
I read with interest today’s announcement that Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk, Senator Bruce Tarr and Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante plan to host a meeting tomorrow with the Gloucester fishing industry for a 6-day update on how things are going under new fishing rules for groundfishermen.
Your readers should know that NOAA Fisheries Service has been in constant communication with fishermen and sector managers over the past year to develop these new management measures. Since the management measures were implemented last Saturday, we have continued to work closely with the industry to resolve any problems with new operating, reporting and monitoring systems.
Constructive communication with the fishing industry at this juncture is critically important. That is why NOAA Fisheries Service staff have been available every day, including weekends since the new rules became effective. We communicate with sector managers and the fishing industry on a daily basis. This allows us to work together to resolve any issues that come up to keep sectors running smoothly.
Our field staff are on the docks all this week, not only in Gloucester but all along the coast, speaking with fishermen to hear first-hand what they are experiencing on the water. We and the New England Fishery Management Council are also planning a series of listening sessions in June to hear directly from fishermen after they have all had a chance to work under the new system.
We have put more resources toward smooth implementation of these new management measures than for any other action in the region since the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act was implemented. Any effort to broadly engage the fishing industry is good.