The federal government’s first-ever “Fisherman in Residence” has his work cut out for him, starting with the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
In a pair of moves this week, NOAA Fisheries publicly identified veteran Maine lobsterman Dustin Delano as the agency’s inaugural in-house fisherman and also initiated the rewriting of a 2008 rule designed to protect right whales from boat collisions. Although they are separate actions, they could quickly become intertwined as Delano represents a fishing industry that’s both unhappy with the 2008 whale-protection standard and eager to be heard on a wide array of other concerns.
“One of the main things I hope to accomplish in this role is helping narrow the long-standing gap between NOAA and the fishing industry,” Delano said in an email response to questions Wednesday, adding that “for a long time, many fishermen have felt that their voices and real-world experience on the water haven’t been fully reflected in policy discussions.”
Delano said his goal is to “help change that by serving as a direct line of communication between working fishermen and NOAA’s policy team.”
