In a move hailed by Long Island commercial fishing interests, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that he will introduce a bill this week to add "flexibility" to a federal fishery management law that he said is "decimating" the local fleet.
The bill, called The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009, would provide a series of exceptions to hard-and-fast federal rules aimed at restoring species deemed as over fished. Long Island fishermen by and large question the science and data collection that are behind federal fishing quotas, while environmental groups say the quotas are badly needed.
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