Tag Archives: Marine Conservation Institute

California fishermen, enviros fight over proposal to protect underwater seamounts.

July 14, 2016   Pacific

California fishermen first learned of the proposal in May, out of the blue. In a six-page, unattributed document, the proposal suggested turning several of the state’s offshore seamounts, ridges and banks into national monuments, permanently closing them to fishing as well as oil and gas development. Under the federal Antiquities Act of 1906, presidents have the power to designate monuments, and implicitly, the proposal asked President Barack Obama to exercise that executive power. “It’s fishing management by fiat,” says Diane Pleschner-Steele, director of the California Wetfish Producers Association. Among the partners behind the proposals is Marine Conservation Institute, and MCI President Lance Morgan, a marine biologist, disagrees that he’s trying to avoid due process, and says that’s just how these things get done. Read the rest here 08:08

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Pacific fishing interests oppose Obama’s plan to expand marine reserve – I mean, What the Hell is an Extra 700,000 Square Miles anyway?!!!

June 30, 2014   Western Pacific

“Fishing for tunas mean there are fewer tunas,” Norse said in an interview, adding that the millions of seabirds that nest and forage in the area depend on the area’s tuna population. “We would like there to be more tunas in this ecosystem, because they play an important role in that ecosystem.” Must be seabirds eat tuna!  Read more here 16:51

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