Last week, a U.S. District Court took an historic first step towards restoring not only the Massachusetts fishery but the entire ocean ecosystem by requiring the government to protect Atlantic herring and shad—bottom-of-the-food-chain species that are the basis of the ocean food web for the Northwest Atlantic. This decision, achieved through Earthjustice litigation, will help shape future fisheries management around the nation.
Known as forage fish, these species are a significant food source for cod, striped bass, tuna, ospreys, killer whales, river otters and countless other marine creatures. Their numbers have declined by 90 percent over the last two decades due in significant part to industrial trawlers that clear-cut the ocean floor and wipe out entire runs of river herring with a single net haul. Without these critical links, the entire ocean food chain is weakened.
Read the complete opinion piece from Earth Justice.