U.S. Sen. Scott Brown says he will vote for the House-approved federal budget amendment to cut off funding for introducing new catch share programs, the Obama administration's top fisheries priority.
Confirmed in an e-mail to the Times, Brown's announcement comes as pressure builds on the Senate from advocates and opponents of the system, which allocates fishermen "shares" of an allocated catch limit for each fish stock, while allowing fishermen and businesses to buy, sell or trade those shares as if in a commodities market.
The net effect — including in New England, where the New England Fishery Management Council, in consort with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, launched the system last May — has been to shift control of the resources to larger businesses and corporations, while driving out smaller, independent boats that are hard-pressed to compete.
"Sen. Brown believes we should stop funding NOAA's current catch share policy, and (he) looks forward to working with his Senate colleagues to do just that," said Colin Reed, press secretary for the Massachusetts Republican.
Brown has also proposed an amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Act that would require annual independent economic impact studies of new fisheries regulatory policies.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.