Gloucester Daily Times Editorial - The Big Picture On Fishing Jobs

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On the surface, U.S. Sen. Scott Brown's proposed Fishery Impact Statement Honesty (FISH) Act, filed earlier this month, targets desperately needed changes in the accountability and oversight of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

But it was refreshing to hear that, on his visit to Gloucester's Cape Pond Ice and Gloucester Seafood Display Auction last weekend, Brown openly referred to the measure as a "jobs bill."

That shows Brown indeed grasps the root problem at hand.

With the latest credible showing significant rebuilding of New England's fish stocks -- and retired top NOAA scientist Steve Murawski noting that statistics confirm there is no longer any "overfishing" -- there is simply no excuse for the catch share management shift and tight allocations that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hides behind, carrying out its economic dirty work for Lubchenco's beloved Environmental Defense Fund. And by standing behind Lubchenco and rejecting lawmakers pleas for relief, Secretary Gary Locke has put his Department of Commerce in a position of killing U.S. jobs and waterfront businesses, while our seafood import deficit grows even worse.

Brown's comments show that he gets that the fishing fight is about jobs, and the right of these American workers to make a living. When will everyone else finally realize that as well?

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