NEW BEDFORD — The mayor of New Bedford is again urging the inspector general at the Department of Commerce to undertake a review of the entire rule-making process governing commercial fishing in New England.
In an Aug. 8 letter addressed to Inspector General Todd J. Zinser, Mayor Scott W. Lang repeatedly cited a report — commissioned by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and released in April — that was critical of the National Marine Fisheries Service and its Northeast Regional Office.
Among its conclusions, the report found that many in the fishing industry felt Marine Fisheries no longer had any focus on the economic growth of the industry as part of its mission. "The agency's rule-making processes remain an area that continues to engender an extraordinary level of mistrust," the mayor wrote.
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