A national campaign to raise funds to support the fight against commercial fisheries sector management and catch shares has been launched and will be overseen by the port of New Bedford, the city announced today.
The newly created American Seafood Defense Fund will support a federal lawsuit filed last month by New Bedford and Gloucester, the state’s two largest fishing ports, together with private fishing interests from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and North Carolina. The suit challenges regulations that came into effect on May 1, and names the Administrator of NOAA and the Secretary of Commerce as defendants.
The newly created fund will be managed by New Bedford’s Harbor Development Commission with the commision’s executive director, Kristin Decas, leading fund-raising efforts.
The lawsuit opposes sector management, a version of NOAA’s “catch share” national management initiative, which fishing officials say could force commercial boat owners out of business and shrink the city’s fleet from 600 active vessels down to as few as 100 to 200.
Read the complete story at The South Coast Today [subscription site]
NOTE: The Standard-Times is a subscription site. Unregistered visitors are able to read three stories per month, and registered visitors may view ten. For unlimited access, please follow the subscription instructions on the site.