COMMERCE
Subscriber Services
Classified Ads
Subscribe
Advertise
NEWS
This Month
Editorial
Letters
F/V Safety
Past Issues
ABOUT US
Contact Us
Latest Issue
Subscribe
History
MORE CONTENT
CFN Archives
Links
Each month exclusively in the PRINT edition of CFN
Along the Coast
Ask the Lobster Doc
Bearin’s
Classifieds
Coming Events
Editorial
Enforcement Report
FISH SAFE
Fleet Additions
Letters
Lobster Market Report
New Boats
News Catch
Quahog Market Report
|
Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 6
February 2010
Fishermen urged to sign letter, petition to fix Magnuson Act
WASHINGTON, DC – Commercial, recreational, and party/charter boat fishermen and shoreside support businesses nationwide are signing on to an ad hoc group calling itself the Preserve Fishing Coalition.
A primary purpose of the organized effort is to support legislation introduced by US Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and US Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and 26 co-sponsors.
According to the coalition, the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009, HR 1584 and S 1255, “will relieve fishermen from some of the onerous and totally unnecessary rigidity in stock rebuilding timeframes” of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).
The group called the inflexible timeframes the result of “successful lobbying efforts of activist environmental organizations funded by multibillion dollar foundations with strong corporate connections.”
To drive home its support for the legislation, the coalition, which was started by 14 industry members, has established a web site to collect signatures on a letter thanking the 28 legislators for taking “a critical first step in returning independent fishermen to their rightful place in the fisheries management process.”
The plan is to present the letter to the lawmakers on Feb. 24 during a fishermen’s rally that is scheduled to start at noon on the steps of the Capitol Building.
“The MSA, as originally passed, specifically included fishermen in the management process to balance the lack of precision in fisheries science with their on-the-water experience,” the letter reads in part. “That imprecision is still and will always be with us, and independent fishermen’s participation in the management process should be as well.”
Marginalization
The letter also addresses the marginalization of fishermen in the public eye as a result of the powerful influence of environmental organizations on the general media.
Among his many affiliations, Nils Stolpe publishes a blog called “Commercial Fishing: The Rest of the Story” and is one of the organizers of the Preserve Fishing Coalition.
“The rigidity in today’s fishing regulations is inflicting untold economic damage and human suffering on fishing families and fishing-dependent businesses up and down all of our coasts,” he said. “And what for? To have a stock rebuilt to some arbitrary level next year instead of two years from now. Not a lot of difference to the fish, but a huge difference to the fishermen.”
The letter can be viewed and signed online at <http://fs16.formsite.com/FixMagnusonNow/form793561462>.
For more information on the rally, call Bob Zales II at (850) 763-6242 or e-mail him at <ccgf@att.net>.
Petition
In addition to the letter, a petition has been posted online by Carmine Gorga, an economist who serves as executive director of the nonprofit Gloucester Community Development Corporation, asking Congress to amend the MSA by adding a preamble to the law.
Gorga’s proposed preamble states that Congress recognizes overfishing is done by large corporations, not family fishermen, and that the predator/prey model is the governing factor in nature.
Therefore, the petition/preamble continues, Congress “enjoins all agencies that administer this law (the MSA) to collaboratively transform it into a workable policy tool designed to benefit fish and fishermen alike and to be implemented in such a manner as to respect the laws of nature and the rights of our citizens.”
The petition/preamble also discusses the need to preserve, not destroy, family fishing businesses and to manage fisheries on the basis of a “true multispecies” model that acknowledges the natural predator/prey relationship between fishermen and the fish they harvest.
The petition may be found online at <www.thepetitionsite.com>. Type “Magnuson” in the search box. /cfn/
Back to story list
|
|
Tell us what you think.
