May 6, 2015 — The center is attempting to put momentum into creating more partnerships for survey work between the industry and NOAA, and to breach the wall that has kept NOAA from embracing independent and/or outside research in its decision-making, which is sharply limited under the current version of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Act.
Steve Cadrin, a marine scientist at SMAST and specialist in survey work, gave a detailed presentation about the NOAA estimates, and finished with the same thought as Lang: that NOAA must be somehow persuaded to join forces.
Lang encouraged those present to begin contacting state legislators and members of Congress, spelling out the problems and asking for NOAA budgets to be used as leverage to reform the agency.
Among the problems are the concerns about skimpy and incompetent fishing by the crew of the Bigelow, NOAA’s research vessel. Bigelow’s survey results for Georges Bank are strongly contradicted by the early returns of research by Kevin Stokesbury of SMAST, who presented an update of his new camera trawl equipment. His videos show an endless abundance of yellowtail flounder everywhere in the Georges Bank closed areas, where NOAA sees next to none.
David Goethel of Gloucester presented photos showing huge landings of cod in Georges Bank. He said he alone could used up the entire total annual catch allowance for cod in three fishing days if he had to.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times