Sen. Olympia Snowe said Tuesday that an interim rule proposed by theNational Marine Fisheries Service would push the New England fishingindustries “off a cliff.”
“We can only speculate on the drastic economic impacts that wouldbefall coastal infrastructure, shore support, and seafood-dependentindustries,” she wrote in a letter sent to James Balsiger, the actingadministrator of the fisheries service.
The senator is joiningMaine fishermen, industry experts and state officials in urging thefisheries service to modify its intended interim regulations, which areplanned to take effect in May and likely would last until 2010.