The two-hour meeting in a packed Beacon Hill hearing room lacked the acrimony of some previous meetings and instead had an air of inevitability about catch shares and sector management, which as of June completed its first year. Much of the time was spent swapping strong suggestions about improving NOAA's fisheries science, management and industry relations.
Lubchenco, however, took heat from U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who had become frustrated by her seeming inability to supply concise answers to questions from the panel, which was organized and chaired by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
At one point when Lubchenco handed a question off to Eric Schwaab, head of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Frank snapped: "Just give a straight answer. It could be yes. It could be no. You don't have to hire someone to take the SAT for you."
Sen. Scott Brown, D-Mass., complained that Lubchenco "can't even answer a simple question."
Frank accused Lubchenco of cherry-picking data to give a misleadingly rosy picture of the vitality of the fishing industry under catch shares. Others chastized her for crediting catch shares with rebounding fish populations when, in fact, they have been increasing for more than a decade under other management rules and restrictions. Ironically, the restraint of fishermen reduced catch share allocations because they were based on fishing history, punishing those who eased up to let stocks rebuild.
Stephen P. Welch, a fisherman and board member of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, told the congressmen that he is one of those who were punished for conserving and is on the brink of quitting fishing. If monitoring costs are shifted to fishermen as of next year, which they are scheduled to do without extra money from Congress, Welch said, "I'm staying home. It's cheaper to stay home than go fishing." It's a public disservice, he said, but he would be forced out.
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