Tag Archives: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council
NOAA pleads for urgency in right whale conservation, lobster gear changes
A previously unscheduled appearance before the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council gave the opportunity for NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit to advocate for the necessity of adapting to new lobster and crab trapping gear to save both North Atlantic right whales and the lobster industry. A deal cut by Maine legislators in a recent congressional spending bill delayed new right whale protections for six years, so the agency is looking to have its new rules set up and ready to go when that period expires. In the meantime, there’s options open to expand on-demand fishing gear so there are fewer large ropes suspended in the water. The bill allocated $26 million to ASMFC for ropeless, on-demand gear, along with monitoring and cost recovery. >click to read< 08:09
Zeldin: The tide must turn for New York fishermen
In a district nearly completely surrounded by water, our waterways are our way of life, supporting tens of billion of dollars in economic activity per year. For our local recreational and commercial fishermen, it is how they make a living and provide for their families, but year after year the livelihood of our community’s anglers has suffered. New York anglers have been put at a great disadvantage, suffering at the hands of lower quotas and allocations than neighboring states. That means when two boats are fishing next to each other, one may be allowed to catch up to double the amount of the other because it is landing the fish in New Jersey or Connecticut instead of New York. >click to read<13:56
