April 25, 2013 — With one week to go before severe quota cutbacks descend on the Northeast groundfishery, Gov. Deval Patrick has written to interim Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank and Congress imploring them to step in, ease the restrictions and send disaster relief for the industry.
May 1 marks the start of the 2013 groundfishing year, bringing with it sharp reductions in cod and yellowtail flounder quota that many fishermen say will make it financially impossible to fish.
The cutbacks were opposed by the New England Fishery Management Council, which instead asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a second year of exemption, citing the Magnuson-Stevens Act that governs fishing.
NOAA, also citing Magnuson, said no. Northeast Fisheries Director John K. Bullard made the recommendation after discussions with the agency’s attorneys, he told the council in January.
Saving Seafood, an advocacy website backed by the local fishing industry, filed a Freedom of Information request for the legal guidance NOAA received, but the request was denied on the grounds of executive privilege.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times