A coalition of environmental groups is blasting the federal government, for the way it regulates commercial fishing.
The
report comes right as congress begins to reconsider the Magnuson Act,
which regulates the nation's fisheries. Its authors reserve some of
their harshest criticism for the New England region.
The
authors of the report, a coaltion called the Marine Fish Conservation
Network, say that it shows the federal government is manipulating data,
so that the fisheries appear to be in better shape than they really are.
The
report charges that most species of fish under management of the New
England Fishery Management Council are not in good shape. It does not
look at overall fish totals, but rather, how many species seem to be
improving and how many declining, as well as how many are listed as
"unknown."
In
the last five years, the National Marine Fisheries Service has made no
progress in increasing the number of fish stocks known to be healthy,"
said Heidi Overbeck from Environment Maine.
But others say, fishing numbers are hard and confusing, and no one is trying to hide anything.
We've
had species in the past that were overfished and aren't any more, we've
had species in the past that weren't and are now," said Marine
Resources Commissioner George LaPointe. "We've got species like Georges
Bank Cod which are overfished now, but if you look at the predictions
in stock growth right now, they won't be next year," LaPointe said.
The
Marine Fish Conservation Network would like to see the Fishery
Management Council impose hard quotas. Many others within the system
say they are willing to consider that option.
