The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet
NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?
While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here
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But…..quotas were supposed to be a cure-all!!
Ah, if we only had a time machine to go back to the years prior to the pompous Lady Jane taking over the Silver Springs puzzle palace. Oh yes, a time where there were codfish pretty much all around the waters of New England.
Then the Obamination came to office along with the traveling circus at NOAA, specifically NMFS, and someone who thought they knew better then the fishermen…fishermen in New England who had not only spent their lives on the water, but depended on ground fishing to support their families, the crews and their communities.
The pomp and circumstance around a new, innovative program that was billed as not only saving the New England fishing industry, but rebuilding all groundfish stocks….especially our beloved codfish. Yes, the old line of “were from the government and we are here to help you….”
Now thinking about this and remembering an article from that time period, and I shall quote sections here, and leave it all to you out there to think about how we said, “don’t do it…don’t go down this road…please listen to us.”
Well, it is too late now.
From: Published: May 12, 2009 –
A Turning Point for New England Groundfish Fishery: Jane Lubchenco sends a clear message – http://blogs.edf.org/edfish/2009/05/12/a-turning-point-for-new-england-groundfish-fishery-jane-lubchenco-sends-a-clear-message/#sthash.ZM4pNUcv.dpuf
“April 8, 2009, Mystic, CT —Sally McGee, Emilie Litsinger and I got to witness something pretty wonderful today. Jane Lubchenco came to the New England Fishery Management Council meeting to announce the immediate release of $16 million to the groundfish fishery to help move the fishery to “sector” catch share management by providing funding for cooperative research to help fishermen get through a tough fishing year with very strict limits on fishing effort.”
Now the concluding statement:
“Today Jane Lubchenco rewrote the future of the groundfish fishery in New England. Her work set us all up in an excellent position to permanently transform New England’s groundfish fishery from worst to first in the next few years. We are now focused on capitalizing on her explosive start as NOAA Administrator to take full advantage of her skilled leadership to speed the transition to catch shares for not only New England groundfish but the rest of this region’s fisheries. What a glorious day.”
Well when the news from NOAA fisheries broke on the afternoon of August 1, 2014, I do hope those who rejoiced on that very day about bringing Catch Shares to New England, remember the “glorious day” statement.
If we only had a time machine……