“The emergency
and interim measures announced today by NOAA Fisheries will be severely
damaging to a groundfishery that is already struggling to survive on a
day-to-day basis. That groundfishery certainly depends on healthy cod stocks,
but it also depends on New England’s fishing families and fishing
infrastructure, particularly the inshore fleet, being able to carry on against
the overwhelming threats posed by the measures released today.
We
don’t have a moment to waste to protect our commercial fishing industry and now
is the time for anyone who cares about the industry to rise up and defend it
with bold and decisive actions, including but not limited to:
• An unprecedented scientific collaborative research effort to determine what the
actual condition of the cod stock is with the real, engaged partnership of
fishermen who stand to lose their livelihood from today’s announced measures.
That effort must determine why the many strict measures that have been
undertaken to date haven’t worked, and why the tremendous hardships that have
been sustained because of them haven’t produced a healthy cod stock.
• Immediate measures to preserve and protect New England’s domestic fishing
infrastructure, including vessels and shoreside facilities.
• Financial assistance for those who depend on groundfishing for their income.
Given
the severity and immediacy of these emergency actions, NOAA, the New England
federal legislative delegation, and its counterparts in state government can’t
afford to wait for them to do damage, we all need to move forward now to
develop and implement a plan to mitigate that damage before it’s too late.”
