Fisherman to NOAA chief: 'No one is going to make it'

[CharlieTuna]

When are the fishermen going to be heard by Lubchenco? Sidestepping questions is not the answer.



Update: Fisherman to NOAA chief: 'No one is going to make it'
By Patrick Anderson
Staff Writer


U.S. oceans chief Jane Lubchenco sidestepped questions about her support for reducing the size of the New England fishing fleet this morning in a meeting with Gloucester fishermen, and promised to “refine” coming federal regulations the are projected to wipe out a large portion of the industry.

Around 30 fishermen and industry members warned Lubchenco of a wave of foreclosures, bankruptcies and layoffs on the waterfront in the next year as a result of an upcoming change in management system and severe rationing of the catch starting in May.


They called for changes in how their allocations of fish are calculated, consideration of the impact on fishing communities when developing rules and freedom from requirements to rebuild all marine species to hard targets simultaneously.


“No one is going to make it,” said Gloucester fishermen Al Cottone. “My permit is not going to be worth anything. This city is going to be in big trouble.”


“The people who have made the sacrifice are being kicked out for people who have never mended a net,” said Russell Sherman.

Mayor Carolyn Kirk, the organizer of the meeting held in a BankGloucester conference room, pointed out that Lubchenco in the past has said a “sizable fraction” of the fleet needed to be eliminated for fishery health. And she asked if the NOAA administrator still thought that good for the country.

“I don’t pretend to know what the right size of any fleet is,” Lubchenco answered. “I intend to work with the community to find the right balance of big and small.”


What she offered fishermen — instead of promises the government would work to mitigate lob losses — was an assurance that she felt their pain, and would at least look at tweaking the plan coming down the pipe.

“It is pretty clear that the design of the sector system by (the New England Fisheries Management Council) is not working for you guys; the economic and social consequences of the transition are horrendous,” Lubchenco said. “We have a lot of work to do to address what was voiced. We are not scrapping it, but we can refine it. We can make it better.”

The morning meeting came hours before Lubchenco also served as a witness at a congressional oversight subcommittee reviewing federal fisheries law enforcement practices (see related story, also here on gloucestertimes.com).
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punew...061115146.html

[bababooey]

What she offered fishermen — instead of promises the government would work to mitigate lob losses — was an assurance that she felt their pain, and would at least look at tweaking the plan coming down the pipe.

Yeah right, fishermen, I feel your pain.
What a backpedaling politician PEW puppet she is.