BOSTON — Attorney General Martha Coakley, state lawmakers, industry lawyers and representatives of the fishing industry took turns at a legislative subcommittee hearing Wednesday assailing federal fishery administrators and law enforcers for outdated science, and ill-conceived, improper, job-destructive policies and attitudes.
The catch share system promoted by NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco was a primary target of the witnesses — along with a corrupted law enforcement regime, Lubchenco herself and so-called green nonprofit groups that were said to share an anti-fishing agenda.
"None of us would need to be here if not for the top-to-bottom failings by the federal government to properly regulate our fishing industry here in Massachusetts," said Coakley, the first of seven witnesses — apart from lawmakers — to testify before the panel, the Subcommittee on Catch Share and Fisheries Management of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.