Every once in a while, government gets it right — even if it takes longer than anyone would like. After a year of arrogant bungling, the Commerce Department finally gave ground on fishing limits.
In announcing that U.S. fishermen would be allowed an 18-percent increase in its share of yellowtail flounder under an agreement with Canada, which shares the fishery, the Commerce Department also planned to hand out some good news on 11 other species that New Bedford and Gloucester-based fishermen also catch.
The new catch limits still must be approved by Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who has been pressured for the past year over what local fishermen believe has been the heavy handed and retaliatory enforcement of fishery rules.
The concerted pressure of the fishing industry, the mayors of New Bedford and Gloucester, this newspaper, scientists like Dr. Brian Rothschild, and state and federal lawmakers — especially U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and Sens. Scott Brown and John Kerry — all have made a difference in getting significant increases approved for the next fishing season, which starts May 1.
The fight for the industry's survival is far from done, and the economic damage to local business and out-of-work fishermen has been deep.
That said, the news represents the first bright spot for groundfishermen and the industry in a long, long time.
It demonstrates that our political system can work when we refuse to give up in the face of adversity.
And that might be the most important lesson of all.
Read the complete opinion piece from The South Coast Today.