Tag Archives: Shaun Gehan

Mid-Water Herring Trawlers to Return to Inshore Waters – Court Overturns Exclusion Zone

March 12, 2022   Mid Atlantic, New England

Herring fishermen from New England and the Mid-Atlantic won a crucial decision last week when a federal judge in Boston ruled in their favor against an exclusion zone in Northeast U.S. waters. The court ruled that a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) measure excluding the mid-water trawl fleet from productive inshore fishing grounds violated the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the nation’s premier fisheries law. The lawsuit was brought by the Sustainable Fisheries Coalition (SFC), a trade group representing herring and mackerel fishing companies. >click to read< 08:16

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New England Fishery Management Council scale back Atlantic herring catch

September 26, 2018   New England

The New England Fishery Management Council unanimously approved a new management approach that will dramatically cut the catch limits for herring over the next three years, but the regulatory board stopped short of temporarily shutting down the fishery, as one option on the table would have required. The new rules adopted by the council, which put in place a formula for setting annual catch limits, were applauded by some environmental advocates as recognition of the fish’s key role in the larger ocean ecosystem. But the decision was made over the objections of groups representing commercial fishing boats that catch herring and lobstermen who use the fish as bait. >click to read<08:02

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Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act – Shark fin bill hurts Americans, hinders shark conservation

May 16, 2017   National
After more than three decades of stringent conservation measures and sacrifices by American shark fishermen, domestic shark populations are on the rise. But just as fishermen are on the verge of being able to realize the reward for years of painful cuts and downsizing, Congress is considering a bill that will effectively end the fishery.  Laudable in intent—attacking the wasteful practice of harvesting sharks solely for fins—the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act is likely to do more harm than good, both to the sharks it seeks to protect and to American fishermen abiding by the world’s strictest rules. Its sponsors, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Edward Royce (R-Calif.), would mandate discarding shark fins and ban their importation or sale. Click here to read the op-ed 15:48
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