It’s interesting to note that, at an inside meeting with a handful of fishermen amid the Oct. 30 pro-fishing demonstration here, NMFS regional administrator Patricia Kurkul told them their best remedies were through the legislative process.
The move by Congressman Barney Frank to take a fresh look at and modify the Magnuson-Stevens Act — the core federal legislation that governs New England’s and all of America’s fisheries — is a step that deserves widespread support in Congress and far beyond.
Frank and other congressional leaders should re-acquaint members of the New England Fishery Management Council, NOAA and NMFS regulators and environmental hardliners — like the Pew Environment Group, which is already mobilizing its forces to block Frank’s push for reform — with Magnuson provisions that require consideration of the impact its regulations have on fishing communities.