December 19, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted against a proposed squid buffer zone framework off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
According to The Independent, Narragansett Town Council members signed a letter requesting that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council reject the buffer zone for the summer squid fishery off Nantucket. The council members wrote that “any exclusion zone or restrictions” could potentially result in “economic devastation,” not only for the fishing industry, but other businesses and the town in general.
“Squid is the economic foundation of Narragansett’s fishing industry and it is necessary that access to that valuable resource be preserved,” the letter reads. “We therefore respectfully request that the council protect the access of the squid fishery to these very important and historic fishing grounds.”
Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for Seafreeze Ltd., told the Independent that: “A potential squid buffer zone off the south of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, it’s federal waters. So there are a handful of fishermen from Nantucket who do not want squid fishing in Nantucket south of the island. So the commercial squid fishery, it occurs in the summertime south of Nantucket. It has been occurring for decades, since at least the `970s. There have been squid vessels commercially fishing squid there since the ‘70s at least.”
Nantucket charter boat captains have been complaining about the squid fishery causing a decline in striped bass. The ban was proposed due to pressure from the recreational fishing industry, but is now will not take place in federal waters.
This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.