First, fishermen were unhappy with the management of the process.
Every action of the council, the NMFS, or the Secretary of Commerce met with political agitation: heated hearings,
visits from congressmen,
letters to newspapers and public officials,
and a long series of lawsuits by fishermen against officers of the NMFs or the Secretary of Commerce (Miller and Van Maanen 1979; Plante 1996b, 1999). These pressure tactics sometimes worked to reverse council and NMFS management decisions.