Accurate data on the number of fish hauled aboard fishing ships is vital for management of fish stocks, writes former U.S. senator Slade Gorton, in criticizing the approach now used by the government – putting observers on a limited number of boats. In an essay in the Boston Globe, Gorton says the current approach amounts to “monitoring at a level insufficient for science and clearly no protection against the discarding of tons of fish.”
“Full-fleet monitoring is needed to end the widespread distrust of NOAA’s scientific estimates,” writes Gorton. “Install electronic monitors on every groundfish boat, and provide regulators and scientists with the comprehensive information they desperately need to make smart decisions about how to save this national treasure.” Congress appropriated $10 million for electronic monitoring. Gorton says rather than a pilot project, as NOAA plans, “All of New England’s fishing boats need to be equipped with cameras now.”