Tag Archives: Edward Barrett

Massachusetts fishermen question impact offshore wind farms will have on their industry

The federal government has established seven wind lease areas for developments, and Vineyard Wind is already under construction, set to be producing energy by late next year or early 2024. And development won’t stop there, said state Rep. Jeffrey Roy, D-Franklin, with Commonwealth Wind and Mayflower Wind joining Vineyard Wind south of Martha’s Vineyard.  “We really don’t have a choice,” Roy said. But Edward Barrett, president of the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership, who’s been in the industry for more than 45 years, said the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a federal government agency that determines the wind leases, has “a deaf ear” to the concerns of fishermen.  “What impact will that have? Well, no one’s really figured that one out and if it has a negative impact,” Barrett said, “then I’m the one who’s gonna have to pay for that through reductions in my catch allocations.” >click to read< 09:14

Letter: Time to change bycatch policy

This letter concerns Oct. 12 article about fishing bycatch (”Fishing rules don’t match industry realities”). Thank God for state Sen. Bruce Tarr’s comments that fishermen shouldn’t be dumping cod overboard to die in order for them to get to the fish they can keep. “The rules don’t reflect the practical reality of the groundfishing,” Tarr said.,,, I thought that Edward Barrett of the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership had two good points in the Oct. 12 article. by Sue Waller, >click to read< 07:29

Bruce Tarr: Ground Fishing rules don’t match industry realities>click to read<

Bruce Tarr: Ground Fishing rules don’t match industry realities

The federal government on Wednesday released data showing that cod stocks in the area remain overfished and are not on target to be rebuilt by 2024. “Abundance is very low, not the way it used to be, so that’s obviously of great concern to us,” said Division of Marine Fisheries Director David Pierce,,, Calling the report “concerning,” Sen. Bruce Tarr, “I’m still reading through the details  but I think it points to the fact that we should be doing things differently than we are today.” Tarr said there’s “too much regulatory discard” of cod “and there’s mortality that’s being caused by a set of rules that don’t recognize the practical reality of groundfishing.” >click to read< 19:32