Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe is among a group of Northeastern congressional delegates strongly urging the government to increase catch limits for certain species of groundfish. In a meeting on Wednesday with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and other federal fishing regulators, Snowe said they ensured that the officials heard loud and clear the anger of New England fishermen.
"I think it's critical that we have to have higher catch limits on the Gulf of Maine winter flounder, southern New England winter flounder and George's Bank yellowtail," says Jim Odlin, owner of Atlantic Trawlers in Portland. Odlin says increasing the limits is essential to saving the region's groundfishing industry.
A couple of our permits have got, like, four pounds of yellowtail on it right? So what? Three fish? It would be a shame to shut down all your fishing activity for the summer over three fish," says Glen Libby, president of the Midcoast Fishermen's Association and a member of the New England Fishery Management Council, which manages the resources of the five coastal New England states.
"We believe that the limits that have been set are the appropriate limits right now," says Sean Mahoney, vice-president of the Conservation Law Foundation, a New England-based environmental advocacy group. It's too early, he says, to start demanding an increase in any catch limits at the moment.
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