Salmon fishery closed, but swordfish open?

By April 11, 2008Sea Turtles

Pacific fishery managers shut down the California salmon fishery due to a crisis of crashing fish stocks. This was a critical and courageous move.

But today they OK’d the opening of a destructive new swordfish fishery in protected sea turtle habitat along the West Coast — on behalf of a single commercial fishing operation run by Peter Dupuy.

The so-called experiemental permit would allow him to set more that 65,000 large hooks in prime leatherback foraging habitat during the fall of 2008.

We fought and defeated this same outrageous permit last year with the help of the California Coastal Commission, and plan to do the same this time around with the help of sea turtle and oceans activists as well as the scientific commnity and more “sane” fishers.

The following fishery council members should be commended for voting AGAINST the longline permit and Dupuy’s fishing cronies (who apparently insulted and attacked enviros who spoke at the public hearing this afternoon).

THANK YOU TO THESE FISHERY COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Maria Vojkovich, Dan Wolford, Michele Culver, Mark Cedergreen, Dale Meyer