Carlos Rafael’s crimes a ‘stark symptom’ of inadequacies of current New England groundfish monitoring program

(BOSTON - March 30, 2017) –  The following is a statement from the Environmental Defense Fund:

“Carlos Rafael’s crimes are a stark example of how the current groundfish monitoring program has failed to protect fish and fishermen. There are extensive regulations in place, but no one can have faith that all of the rules are being followed if monitoring is inadequate. These crimes don’t just damage the fishery, they badly hurt fishermen as well.

The good news is that NMFS and the New England Fishery Management Council are now committed to a major overhaul of monitoring, with the goals of improving the accuracy of information and increasing accountability. We hope the new monitoring program will be developed in a way that provides critical insurance for fishermen to know there is a level playing field, and that it will restore confidence in the government’s science and management decisions.”