Lee Crockett, director of federal fisheries policy for the Pew Environment Group, and Holly Binns, manager of Pew’s Campaign to End Overfishing in the Southeast, issued this joint statement today on Senator Bill Nelson’s (D-Fla.) legislation to weaken a key federal fishery law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The statement is said to delay plans to end overfishing and rebuild the severely depleted South Atlantic red snapper.
According to Lee Crockett this bill will undermine the nation’s commitment to restore depleted ocean fish populations. At present moment the implementation of such act on the water would turn back the clock. If enacted, it could set recreational and commercial fishing throughout the nation on an unsustainable path by threatening the long-term health of the fish on which they depend, says Crockett.
On the other hand Holly Binns mentioned in his statement that this legislation could stall a lot of carefully crafted plans to rebuild imperiled fish populations in the southeast, including South Atlantic red snapper. It would allow overfishing of one of the region’s most severely depleted species to continue for another five years. He added that this bill undermines the plan that federal fishery managers approved in June to put this species on the road to recovery.
