Tag Archives: Ronald Smolowitz

Working the system makes the system unworkable, by Ronald Smolowitz

mkAs the owner of Coonamessett Farm in Falmouth and a partner at the Woods Hole Oyster Co., I spend as much time navigating regulatory hurdles as I do tending the farm or going to sea. Many farmers and fishermen have similar fights with overbearing bureaucracy, something likely to become more common as the noose of government regulations tightens.,,Things aren’t much better out at sea. I do a substantial amount of research for the scallop industry, and sustainability is the key reason scallop management is a continued successes. Through a system of rotational management, certain zones are fished while others are left off-limits to allow them to repopulate. Much as with farmland, this system allows the resources to remain sustainable. Read the article, Click here 09:47

Ronald Smolowitz – Marine monument plan subverts public input

cashes ledge closedYour recent editorial endorsing a new Atlantic marine national monument (“A fitting tribute,” Sept. 27) misses the main reason a large and growing number of fishermen, coastal residents and public officials are so opposed to the proposal: It undermines the democratic process and threatens the future of public input in the management of public resources. For many fishermen, this is not primarily an economic issue. Parts of the areas under consideration, particularly Cashes Ledge in the Gulf of Maine, have been closed to most,,, Read the rest here 12:53