50 



for our health as the illness was. For although the operation might be a success, it does us little 

 good if we, the patient, die during it. We must not allow the operating table to become the 

 sacrificial altar just to appease the angry gods-that-be today! 



It was just prior to the implementation of Amendment 5 of the Northeast Multispecies 

 Management plan, and Amendment 4 of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Management Plan that the fishing 

 industry began to feel that they were about to be cast as the sacrificial lambs. After much was said 

 about not being able to survive under the tough new regulations that were about to be put in place, 

 we went about our business as best we could. 



'As best we could,' seems to have been too good. For although some boats were forced to 

 declare bankruptcy others found ways to minimize their costs and expenses while trying to 

 maximize their returns. In many cases this was done by cutting back on the number of crewmen 

 aboard the vessels, sometimes to the point of questionable safety. The duration of fishing trips and 

 watches were lengthened in order to be more efficient. Routine repairs and routine maintenance 

 were no longer part of the equation, and it has become the necessary repairs that might be 

 considered, sometime soon. But we were surviving! 



In order to put the time frame of the developing management regime in perspective I will 

 present a brief outline that will show what has occurred since 1991. This is when it was decided 

 that Amendment 5 was necessary in order to rebuild the stock?. It is the period from January 1994 

 to present that is of particular concern. This was due to the unprecedented haste and impact of 

 these changes that has placed the Massachusetts fishing communities at or near the point of their 

 own collapse! 



Spring of 1991 Council begins development of Amendment 5 



Objectives: 1) Reduce mortality 



a) cod and yellowtail within 5 years 



b) haddock within 1 years 



2) Rebuild haddock stocks by preventing an increase in directed haddock 



fishing 



3) Improve enforcement and administration of management measures 



4) To protect concentrations of sublegal size fish and reduce discard mortality 



5) Limited entry to groundfish fishery 



6) Reduce groundfishing time at sea by up to 50% 



June 1991 Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) files lawsuit against U.S. 



Department of Commerce 



Spring of 1992 Council spends nearly one year on first draft due to the broad 



scope of plan, and the controversy regarding many of the proposed measures and 

 issues such as: 



1 ) moratoriums on new permits 



