Just recently, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council announced that it was substantially increasing the 2012 harvest for summer flounder by millions of pounds. They were able to do this because the summer flounder stock, which was in recent years in great danger, had a chance to rebuild as a result of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSA).
I was pleased to read that Runyan supports fair fishing regulations and agree with him that we need government regulations in place to ensure that our fish stocks aren’t overfished and have a chance to rebuild. MSA is clearly working, as is the case in the summer flounder stock, and our Congress needs to reject bills that would effectively weaken this positive law. I encourage Runyan to support MSA by promoting positive fishing regulations that allow all fishing stocks – like summer flounder – to be rebuilt.
Read the complete opinion piece from The Asbury Park Press