Conservation & Environment

The Pew Charitable Trusts issued a fact sheet in January of 2009: "A Rule to End Overfishing in the United States."

Read the fact sheet in full (PDF format)

 

CAPE COD, MA (January 26, 2009) – Four days before President Barack Obama took his oath of office, the Bush administration announced what some environmentalists would consider a death sentence for Georges Bank, one of the world’s richest fishing grounds.

On Jan. 16, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service released a draft report that proposed offering oil and gas leases in offshore areas from Canada to Alaska. These included some areas, including the submerged plateau east of Cape Cod known as Georges Bank, that were formerly closed under congressional and presidential restrictions. Those restrictions were lifted after President Bush ended a presidential ban on drilling in July and the Senate failed to renew a congressional moratorium that lapsed in October.

The northern Atlantic region, from New Jersey to Canada, had been under annual congressional drilling moratoriums since 1983 and presidential restrictions since 1990. Although the House of Representatives did pass a new moratorium last fall by a wide margin, the Senate did not have time to vote on a similar bill.

Read the SouthCoastToday.com story in full

 

CHATHAM, MA (January 22, 2009) — Federal regulators have announced a set of interim rules governing the commercial groundfish fishery which critics say could seriously undercut the industry without adequately addressing the problem of overfishing.

 

The draft rules proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would take effect May 1, and govern commercially important species like cod, haddock and flounder.  They are designed to govern the fishery until the New England Fishery Management Council finalizes its next major revision to the fishery management plan, known as Amendment 16.

Under the draft interim rules, regulators would expand the area of the Gulf of Maine where each day fished is counted as two days; there would also be a prohibition on keeping ocean pout, northern windowpane and southern New England winter flounder.  Gillnetters and trawlers would be prohibited from an area of southern New England waters to further protect winter flounder.  The reduction in days-at-sea already scheduled to go into place May 1 would also be retained.

Read The Cape Cod Chronicle story in full

 

NEW BEDFORD, MA  (January 15, 2009) – Fishermen and conservationistsappear equally outraged by a proposed rule that would severely cut theamount of groundfishing allowed during the 2009 season.

The interim proposal, announced Wednesday by federal fishing regulators, is an effort to reduce overfishing and meet rebuilding guidelines for diminished stocks. Local fishing representatives argue that the measures will force small-scale fishermen out of the industry with an 18 percent reduction in already-limited fishing days and a counting scheme that will charge them two days for each day fished in Southern New England waters and a vast portion of the Gulf of Maine. Additional measures include the closure of certain fishing grounds in Southern New England and a ban on the landing of three fish stocks: ocean pout, northern windowpane and Southern New England winter flounder. Read the SouthCoastToday.com story in full

 

BOSTON, MA (January 14, 2009) – Peter Baker, manager of the Pew Environment Group’s End Overfishing in New England campaign, today issued the following statement in response to the National Marine Fisheries Service announcement of its interim rule for managing groundfish (including cod, haddock and flounder) in New England for the 2009 fishing year. "The National Marine Fisheries Service’s draft interim rule shows that the agency sadly is committed to fixing New England’s broken management system with the same tools that have proven ineffective at rebuilding fish stocks for years. That failed system, based on limiting both the number of days a fisherman  can fish ("days-at-sea") and the amount of fish that can be carried back to the dock, is decimating the traditional fishing fleet, reducing revenues and forcing many coastal businesses to close. Regrettably, this system has not ended overfishing nor rebuilt depleted stocks.
 
"This interim rule will not solve our problems, and may well cost many of the region’s fishermen their livelihoods. The time for a new approach has come.

Read the full statement issued by the Pew Charitable Trusts

BOSTON, MA (January 15, 2009) – A decades old fish story may be about to change. Yesterday, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced they would once again tighten the web of restrictions around fishermen.

As usual, fishermen complained it was too harsh. As usual, environmentalists complained it was too lenient. As usual, government officials said they had to do it to protect the fish. Here is a solidly done story in the New Bedford Standard Times that explains the new rules.

But things may be changing in the age-old, mixed up world of New England fishing.

Read the Boston Globe blog in full

WASHINGTON (January 14, 2009) – Interim rules the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing for the Northeastern groundfishing industry drew harsh criticism today from the Pew Environment Group’s End Overfishing in New England campaign.

“The measures strive to reduce overfishing, continue rebuilding of groundfish stocks,” such as cod, haddock and flounder, “and provide more options for fishing businesses trying to mitigate the economic effects of the measures while the New England Fishery Management Council finalizes a major revision to the fishery management plan,” the NMFS’ Northeast Regional Office says in a statement on its Web site about the draft rules, which are scheduled to go into effect May 1.

Read the Providence Business News story in full

 

 

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