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February 04, 2005
V.I. anglers' outcry answered, restrictions eased
From the VI Daily News:
Local fishermen are calling last week's meeting of the Caribbean Fishery Management Council a preliminary victory in the battle over fishing regulations in federal waters surrounding the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
The council had considered closing specific areas of the federal waters to all fishing, either all year or in certain months.
Among local fishermen, a bone of contention has been that the council used data from Puerto Rico in its draft document without considering 30 years of catch data from V.I. fishermen. The V.I. fishing industry relies on federal waters, which begin three miles offshore of the Virgin Islands, compared with nine miles off Puerto Rico shores.
Responding to those concerns, the council met last week in Puerto Rico and decided to recommend less-severe restrictions than those originally proposed.
"What we got was significant," said David Olsen, staff scientist for the St. Thomas Fishermen's Association, who attended the meeting in Puerto Rico.
Posted by afinta at February 4, 2005 11:01 AM
