With Coronavirus pandemic ravaging our country, temporary relaxation of fishery regulations is urged to help fishing industry
Thanks to our Senators and Congressmen who worked to get specific aid to the fishing industry, that has been hit particularly hard by the closure of restaurants, where 70 per cent of seafood in this country is consumed. Fishermen and wholesalers have had to adapt on the fly and find other ways to market their product to various degrees of success. The closure of so many vital aspects of our domestic economy will have effects that will still be felt a long time after the Virus is tamed.,, I am requesting that NMFS immediately contact the various management councils and commissions to request that special meetings [webinars] of fishery advisory panels be held to discuss the pro’s and cons of this idea, and what fisheries could benefit.,,, By Jim Lovgren. >click to read< 20:48
I’ve contacted our State and federal reps here in New York — pointing out that the recreational fishing business is “nonessential” and is largely out of the picture until things go back to normal. Not only are the party and charter boats closed down but the State has ordered the marinas closed and are not letting private boats put back in the water. Even public launching ramps have been chained off. Being that the recs are allocated half or more the pie for quotaed species the commercial limits can be substantially raised without increasing the already projected overall landings. It needs to get done immediately — it helps everybody and hurts no one.