Tag Archives: State Senate
Virginia: General Assembly bill could help end debate of whether menhaden are overfished in the Chesapeake Bay
The state Senate passed a bill Wednesday to fund a study by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to calculate menhaden populations in the state. The study would survey the number of fish over 18 months and the amount of bycatch, the unintended fish caught in the nets. The menhaden population along the Atlantic coast is considered healthy according to the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission, but groups such as the Virginia Saltwater Sport Fishing Association and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation want to know the numbers in the bay. Other fish, including striped bass, dine on menhaden. >click to read< 11:38
CALIFORNIA VOTES TO MAKE ITSELF MORE RELIANT ON IMPORTED FISH
California lawmakers passed legislation that would ban drift nets and help save endangered sea animals, but critics argue such a ban would ultimately have the opposite effect.,,, “I don’t know what I’d do,” Mike Flynn — who has depended on drift gill nets to capture swordfish for 40 years — said in a statement to NBC Bay Area. “There’s very few of us left, and we don’t seem to have a chance … we’re being villainized, unjustly.”,, The campaign to ban large drift nets in California began several years ago. Environmental groups — Mercy for Animals, Sea Legacy, Turtle Island Restoration Network and others,,sent a team of photographers underwater with the goal of capturing heart-wrenching pictures of trapped fish. The photos were used by activists to demand a ban. >click to read< In a related post about the photographer, SHOCKER: National Geographic admits they were wrong about “starving polar bear” video – >click to read<10:01
Massachusetts: $185K for fishing research in proposed fiscal year 2018 budget
The state Senate has added $185,000 for commerical fishing research to its proposed Fiscal Year 2018 budget. State Senate Minority Leader Brice Tarr, R–Gloucester, and state Sen. Mark Montigny, D–New Bedford, worked together to amend the budget. The money will help fund the Industry Based Survey, which partners commercial fishermen with scientists to gather data and develop a science-based understanding of the region’s cod stocks. Those stocks are often viewed as a barometer of the health of many other ground fish stocks, such as haddock and flounder. click here to read the story 18:14
