In December, days after federal scallop permits were devalued by the New England Fishery Management Council on the motion of the representative of the Environmental Defense Fund, the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust — which is advised by EDF — announced a grant from the Walton Family Foundation and plans to buy scallop permits.
The $500,000 grant from the foundation of the family that founded Wal-Mart moved the fisheries trust, the investment division of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, toward its capitalization goal of $10 million for the purchase of scallop and groundfish permits. And according to the Dec. 4 announcement, the trust had raised $2 million toward that end.
The previous week, the council on a 10-7 vote on the motion of EDF senior staffer and councilor Sally McGee, decided to hold the scallop harvest for 2010 to a total catch millions of pounds shy of the amount the independent Science and Statistical Committee and the Plan Development Committee said would be viable.
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.