Saving Seafood spoke with New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang, who attended the NOAA Enforcement Summit in Washington, DC.
Reaction to the summit:
I thought that the summit was useful in one important way, and that was the agency opening up their door to get feedback from the people who have been most egregiously affected by the inappropriate law enforcement efforts that went on for the better part of a decade. At this point the agency is still dealing with this in a very esoteric manner, in a very theoretical manner rather than realizing that there was real harm done by an overzealous law enforcement agency. From my perspective, they had a regulatory system that was so complex and so disjointed that in many instances it was difficult for the fishing industry to comply.
They took full advantage. They ran up exuberant fines, they then went ahead with procedures that affected the entire industry in a way in which people lost, in many cases, their livelihood. And the agency is now starting to look at it and try to determine where they go from here.
My feeling is what they need to do is clean house; what they need to do is build a system that's appropriate under the American standards of the rule of law and due process and equal justice. If that’s what comes up out of this summit then I will be very glad.
I do not think that you are going to be able to pour paint on this rusting hull. I believe that’s what’s going to have to happen here is you're going to have to take a whole new look and approach. And do it in a way that's appropriate for not only the people who they are trying to work with from a conservation standpoint, but also industry people who they obviously have to police in some cases. But until they begin a complete, wholesale review, this is not going to be a system that people are going to have faith in.
On his conversation with NOAA Administrator Lubchenco:
The conversation that I had with Dr. Lubchenco was basically to indicate that these are very serious issues and that she has the ability to work with the stakeholders to turn the very difficult situation that we have right now, in the New England states, in to something that we can begin to work with in a constructive and productive manner. But she is going to have to be involved, hands on, if she’s not, the atmosphere that exists now between the industry and the government is not going to improve.
I believe that the government is at fault, not the industry. The government has not empowered the industry or the industry's scientists to be involved in helping.
They need to have rule making that ensures the sustainability of the fish stock, but also ensures that the fishing industry is not in peril. The way it stands right now, while they have no idea how the rules will affect the fisheries, we are seeing the real harm that is being done to people in the fishing communities.
I think they have to partner with the fishing industry, all the stakeholders, and the scientists that support the fishing industry, to come up with a management plan that's appropriate not only for the fish, but also for the people in the industry.