"I firmly believe that recovering the iconic fisheries in New England is paramount," Jane Lubchenco, who's been the nation's ocean chief since March 2009, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The old, dark days are not something anyone wants to continue."
Lubchenco said she favored limits on how much catch one fishing entity can control so that larger fishing interests can't force small boats out of the industry. She also wanted help for fishermen facing millions in looming costs under the new system. She dismissed the notion that her past ties to environmentalists puts her at odds with the fishermen who disagree with them.
"I have a long-standing great relationship with fishermen as well as environmental groups, and I know they are not at polar opposite ends," she said.
"There's light at the end of the tunnel, but it's a long tunnel," she said.
Lubchenco said NOAA has realized the new system lacks "checks and balances" to stop a few entities from controlling most of the fishery. She said she favors putting caps, so-called accumulation limits, on how much any single fishing interest can control and has pushed regional managers to quickly decide what those limits should be.
"I think it is in the best interests of the region to have a lot of fishermen," Lubchenco said. "This is a cultural identity of the region, and it's valuable for that reason."
Lubchenco has been criticized for saying the fleet needed to be substantially reduced to relieve pressure on fish stocks, but last week she said reducing the fleet is not her goal.
"I do not know what the size of the fishery should be," she said. "It is not our goal to have anything other than a diverse fleet that is sustainable."
She also said it's important to find a way to help fishermen pay the millions in potentially crushing costs for at-sea monitors, which are required under the new system to track the catch and ensure fishermen are staying within the set limits. The costs were covered by the federal government in the first two years of the new system, but fishermen look to be on their own in 2012.
"It's a very real concern that we share with fishermen," she said. "I don't know what the answer is. I just know we need to figure that out."
Read the complete story from by The AP at the Boston Globe.