Comment by Jean Frottier on XM12

NMFS has recently published a proposed Secretarial Rule that, among other things, calls for the total closure of the area where this fixed gear sector had the majority of their cod landings. It is all well and good that NMFS finally recognizes the consequences of the mismanagement that allowed for 2000 pounds per day cod landings in an area that could not support that kind of pressure, but NMFS continues to disregard the ongoing harm that will accrue from allowing this fixed gear sector, and possible future sector entities, to base their operations upon a landings history derived from faulted management measures that resulted in a collapse of underlying fish stocks. The concept of catch shares is valid in theory, but in practice the concept fails because the allocation process is often faulted to the point where it becomes little more than a fish grab by connected insiders. The allocation process for this fixed gear group has been a prime example of the bad things that result from secret dealings and piecemeal actions on a fleet-wide management issue. Furthermore, NMFS again needs to be reminded of the fact fisheries enforcement does not have, and never had: (1) a boat or crew capable of hauling a set gillnet – which can legally be up to 6000 feet long in total, (2) any protocol for handling the net and/or contents of either a legal gillnet or an illegal gillnet. This all translates into no ability to enforce any rule on the water pertaining to set gillnets. No part of any version of Magnuson-Stevens contemplates allowing a fishery to operate for over thirty years with rules that NMFS never had any intention or ability to enforce. Notwithstanding, NMFS has already approved a fixed gear sector that continues to operate with rules that cannot be enforced on the water, and with a catch allocation based on a catch history tainted by 30 years of unenforceable rules, and upon catch levels that caused the collapse of the fish stocks. NMFS is the entity that bears ultimate responsibility for the mismanagement of our fish stocks because NMFS failed to perform its role as envisioned in the Sustainable Fisheries Act. NMFS has signed-off on measure after measure which render the prospect of fair allocations for the various user groups nearly impossible. At this point, the only thing that NMFS can and should do with this GB Fixed Gear Sector is make it known that all allocations will be revisited and possibly revised as the process to fleet rationalization moves forward.