SavingSeaFood - Senate group forms to address marine issues

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Senate group forms to address marine issues

PROVIDENCE – A newly formed U.S. Senate group spearheaded by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse will help those in the area’s marine trade respond to issues concerning the oceans and coasts. Its first act will be to address illegal overfishing.

Whitehouse announced the formation of the Oceans Caucus on Jan. 13, at a business roundtable held by the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association. The event was held at the Providence Boat Show, hosted by the Rhode Island Convention Center.

“In the spirit of beginning the caucus with a strong bipartisan opener, the first piece of legislation we’re going to bat for is the Port State Measure,” Whitehouse said. The legislation would call for an international agreement enacting stronger enforcement measures for boats that are caught fishing illegally. Over the last three months, international authorities have captured two “pirate” vessels of unconfirmed origin with tons of illegal seafood.

Read the complete story from Providence Business News.

MELISSA WOOD, NATIONAL FISHERMEN: Meting out the meager

May 22, 2012 - Listening to the New England Council's Groundfish Advisory Panel talk about how that industry is going to pay for monitoring costs is kind of like trying to figure out how to pay your bills when you've just lost your job. Though monitoring is important keeping costs down is critical. As Panel Member Gary Libby pointed out, "If we had 100 percent monitoring we probably wouldn't have an industry."

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