In the US Virgin Islands, fishermen and scientists are at odds over proposals to regulate commercial fishing:
Fishermen from St. Thomas clashed with representatives from the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council and National Marine Fisheries Service on Wednesday night at Windward Passage Hotel at a hearing to collect information that will help set new commercial fishing regulations.
Fishermen from St. Thomas said that the fishery around St. Thomas is sustainable as it has been managed. They point to data they have collected during the last 30 years that shows a consistent level of catch among the various species targeted for catch limits.
The new regulations are federally mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act and are meant to protect fish stocks in federal waters. Local fishermen have battled with regulators for more than a year about the coming regulations, which will set annual catch limits for many targeted species.
…
Bill Arnold, a fishery biologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service Southeastern Regional Office, said the future catch limits will likely be set from 50 percent to 80 percent of the current landings.Fishermen said that lowering the catch limit from what is currently caught will penalize them for the self-regulation that has created a stable fishery.
The full article is at the Virgin Islands Daily News.
[Photo: Rex Bennett]
