If there's on thing that commercial fishermen and fisheries management officials can agree on, it's that they don't want any one species to go extinct.
However, that might be the only thing.
Commercial fishermen, in the Northeast especially, are constantly battling for the right to keep and sell more fish, to support their livelihood.
Regulators, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are constantly battling to get improved science to better ensure the future of the stocks.
NOAA, by the end of this calendar year came up with management plans for 40 species of fish. They'd hoped to effectively manage 46 species, but they got pretty close. Of course, not everybody agrees with the new regulations.
Commercial fishermen like Chris Brown, president of the Rhode Island Commercial Fishermen's Association, are saying that the restrictions are endangering commercial fishermen's way of life. According to the Jamestown Press, Brown says that new regulations, when combined with the recession and the increasing price of fuel, are putting a tight squeeze on the men and women that catch and sell fish for a living. Executives at NOAA, are lauding the increased protection for various fisheries. We're hoping that sound science and smart management can allow us to have our fish and eat it too. – Rick Bach
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