December 19, 2014 — Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk is urging the New England Fisheries Management Council to keep in mind the perilous plight of the Gloucester and Northeast groundfishing fleet as it maps out habitat protection areas as part of a major NOAA ocean zoning project.
In remarks submitted in writing to the council — and presented on the city’s behalf by City Council President Paul McGeary to the fishing panel when it hosted one of several regional hearings Wednesday night at Cruiseport Gloucester — Kirk called on the council to “remember the responsibility under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to carry out these protections in a way that doesn’t further damage the groundfish fleet, and gives fishermen the best opportunity to harvest allocations that remain available to them.”
The Gloucester hearing was one of 10 being hosted by the regional fisheries panel throughout December from Maine to Virginia on a plan referred to as NOAA’s Draft Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2. The hearing here was one of just two scheduled for Massachusetts, with the council also having hosted a hearing Tuesday night in New Bedford.
There, New Bedford Mayor John Mitchell expressed concerns similar to Kirk’s.
“As the Council considers additional habitat protections through the Omnibus Amendment, it needs to be mindful of both the economic as well as the environmental impact of the proposals before it,” Mitchell told the panel. “Consistent with its duties under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Council needs to balance the needs of habitat protection and restoration with the preservation of access to fishing grounds vital for the future of fishing communities.”
Kirk said Thursday that the remarks she submitted to the regional council were developed in concert with the city’s Fishery Commission and with the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition.
“We want to be sure our concerns are on the table — our concerns as a fishing community,” Kirk said Thursday.
Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times