NEW BEDFORD – Fourteen members of Congress from the Northeast confronted Commerce Secretary Gary Locke this morning over fishing restrictions that they view as a calamity to the industry.
Eight senators were joined by six House members in what U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said was an extraordinary session in the Capitol building.
In a show of bipartisan unity, Frank said that he was seated next to Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., who joined in pressuring Locke for increased allocations of so-called “choke species” of fish, which have the tightest limits and govern all the rest of what a group of boats called a “sector” can fish.
Frank said that Locke promised to review the limits on pollock, which he also said in a letter to Frank recently. But Frank said that those present pressed hard for a relaxation of the limits for yellowtail flounder and winter flounder, which also pose trouble for the industry.
Read the complete story at The South Coast Today.