06 March 2008
Commercial fishing industry supports Congressional efforts to remove unnecessary rigidity from fisheries management
)Published on March 6th, 2008 @ 09:28:27 am, using 241 words, 459 views
The Garden State Seafood Association, representing New Jersey~s ocean-oriented commercial fishing industry, enthusiastically endorses the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 (HR 5425), introduced by New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone and extending the provisions of earlier legislation sponsored by North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones and Massachusetts Congressman Barney Franks.
Having already attracted a core of Coastal Members, Congressman Pallone~s legislation would adjust provisions of the Magnuson Act, the legislation that defines how U.S. fisheries will be managed. The legislation contains amendments to avoid unnecessarily harsh management measures being imposed in fisheries in which the stocks are increasing but the rebuilding rates are beyond the influence of the recreational or commercial harvest levels.
The Bill includes safeguards that will provide the affected fish stocks with more than adequate protection from overharvesting. However, the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 will allow fisheries managers to also protect fishermen and fishing communities when arbitrary and inflexible regulations would otherwise punish fishermen ~ and the communities that depend on them ~ for environmental or anthropogenic factors beyond their control that affect those stocks.
Having already attracted a core of Coastal Members, Congressman Pallone~s legislation would adjust provisions of the Magnuson Act, the legislation that defines how U.S. fisheries will be managed.
Congressman Pallone and his co-sponsors have earned the respect of commercial and recreational fishermen on both coasts for recognizing that they are as important as the fish that they harvest.
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