Sen. John Kerry is stepping up pressure on outgoing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, urging him to declare the state's fishing woes an economic disaster and reconsider his rejection of higher catch limits.
Kerry, D-Mass., wrote to Locke Wednesday, following up on a meeting he had with the secretary earlier in the week. He pressed Locke to provide emergency economic assistance, raise catch limits and stay penalties that were imposed on fishermen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"Many of these requests have been made previously and supported by the Massachusetts delegation but have not yet been granted," Kerry wrote in his letter to Locke, which was also addressed to NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco.
"This is an opportunity to repair a relationship between the Department of Commerce, NOAA and our fishing communities that has been very badly strained in these last years."
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