Mr. Baker takes issue with the position of Northern Pelagic Group LLC (NORPEL), a mackerel and herring fishing and processing company, which blamed the closing of NORPEL’s plant in New Bedford, and subsequent loss of jobs, in part on the Pew Environment Group (PEG).
According to Mr. Baker, Pew Environment Group is a founding member of the Herring Alliance (www.herringalliance.org), which is a growing coalition of environmental organizations formed in May 2007 to protect and restore ocean wildlife and ecosystems in the northeast United States. There are currently 38 member organizations representing nearly two million concerned citizens (see attached). The Herring Alliance strives to reform the industrial fishery for Atlantic herring and promotes the following goals:
1. Establish ecosystem-based catch limits that leave enough herring in the ocean for whales, tuna and other marine life that feed on them.
2. Create buffer zones and closed areas to prevent fishing in specific parts of the ocean during critical times of the year in order to protect juvenile and spawning fish, minimize by-catch and ensure herring is abundant when and where it is most needed by predators.
3. Develop a comprehensive monitoring program, including at-sea observers on midwater trawl vessels, so that estimating the herring catch and by-catch of depleted river herring and groundfish, as well as marine mammals is more accurate to better inform sustainable management decisions.
Read the letter from Peter Baker.