Assemb. Fred Thiele on Thursday said he introduced legislation that would end a technicality barring commercial fishing licenses from being passed to family members who don’t live at the home of the original permit holder. more@longislandnewsday
NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?
While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here
Thiele only has it partially right. These permits should be available for sale or lease to any persons that meet the criteria to qualify for a NYS food fish permit. Currently anyone who meets financial stipulations set by the state can qualify to enter a lottery for a food fish permit. Unfortuneately only some species are allowed to be harvested with this permit. The 2 most valuable species in the state,Fluke and Striped Bass are not covered and require seperate permits which are still under a moratorium even though its been acknowledged that both stocks are rebuilt and not being overfished.These permits must be made available so new entrants in the fishery can have the same oppurtunities as established long time fishermen.