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OPINION: Hold off on international trade ban |
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I am a 25-year bluefin tuna fisherman, and I am confident that an
international trade ban will be bad for the fish and US fishermen. We
have abided by designated quotas for decades while European countries
have regularly flouted theirs by several hundred percent. These same
countries will likely excuse themselves from the ban, continue
overfishing, and benefit from higher prices in Japan due to the absence
of US fish.
The Globe editorial “To stop overfishing of tuna, ban foreign sales of bluefins’’ (March 1) fails to perceive the central problem of international bluefin management for the past two decades - that the United States has never elevated the issue of foreign overfishing of this shared resource past the level of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Yet, the Globe states, “A ban would only succeed if the United States and other countries apply maximum diplomatic pressure on Japan to change course.’’ For years, industry and environmental nongovernmental organizations have been asking unsuccessfully for State Department-level pressure. Why would the United States start applying it now? Does our country care so little for fisheries that it will only step in when a species carries an “endangered’’ label? |
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33 Fishing Community Members Say Permit Bank, Giacalone are pluses for Gloucester
This permit bank is a true local treasure for our fishing community and related businesses. Its existence has been one of the only positive things to come to this fishing community in decades.
