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Net Tightens Around New England Herring Trawlers |
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If you Google an image of a herring midwater trawler, you see a well-equipped large fishing ship. What you may not see are the massive nets that drag behind such ships - meant to capture anything in their path. No wonder local fishermen in Massachusetts are having a hard time competing. Most of their catch is being scooped up by these nets. Well, today (7/21) Earthjustice scored big—three times over—in the struggle to keep trawling ships from continuing to deplete fisheries of groundfish (including cod, haddock, flounder and sole). Earthjustice represented fisherman Patrick Paquette in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service which for months refused to release a public video of footage aboard trawl ships. The video is important because it showcases the flaws in NMFS's current monitoring system (but more on that later). On Monday a judge approved a final settlement between Paquette and NMFS and officially released the video. Read the complete story from Earth Justice.
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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.
