NEW BEDFORD — The deep and murky waters of fishery management in New England just became a little murkier for Jon Williams, CEO of the Atlantic Red Crab Company in the city.
In the middle of September, his company was awarded certification by the Marine Stewardship Council, a London-based nonprofit that seeks to influence consumers by issuing ecolabels to fisheries around the globe that it deems sustainable.
Atlantic Red Crab is the first company on the East Coast to attain Marine Stewardship Council certification, and Williams was proud to receive the recognition for a business that was also contributing new jobs and revenue to the city.
Just two weeks later, however, the New England Fishery Management Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee spoiled the party and stunned the industry by recommending that the allowable catch for 2010 be pegged at the 2007 level. The decision has left Williams perplexed because, he says, 2007 was a complete anomaly.

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