CLF Senior Counsel Peter Shelley spoke to Boston’s ABC affiliate WCVB-TV in response to Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke’s decision on Friday to reject Governor Patrick’s request to increase catch limits, citing the lack of scientific and economic evidence indicating that such an increase was necessary. Shelley stated that the industry has actually benefited economically by the new catch limits since they went into effect in May 2010, while fish stocks have been steadily increasing.

“There is a win-win that can be seen by restoring the fish populations. You can’t have a healthy industry that’s based on a resource base that’s disappearing,” Shelley said during the segment.

For those of you who missed Friday’s broadcast, click here to watch the clip online:

Today,  Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke made the decision to reject Governor Patrick’s request for emergency action to increase catch limits for Massachusetts fishermen, in violation of the groundfish management plan that CLF helped to pass, which has been in effect since May 2010 and was helping to create positive, sustainable change in the state’s fisheries. Several weeks ago, the Governor petitioned Secretary Locke to declare a state of economic emergency in Massachusetts fisheries and was supporting a lawsuit that challenged the plan, putting fish and fishermen at risk.

“With his decision to reject Governor Patrick’s request to increase catch limits, Secretary Locke has rightly rejected the notion that the new fisheries management plan is contributing to an economic crisis in the Massachusetts fishery,” said CLF Senior Counsel Peter Shelley. “On the contrary, fishing industry revenues in Massachusetts are up 21.9 percent over 2009 in just the first seven months under the new “catch shares” management system.  The Governor’s demand for emergency action was more politics than economics.” Read more >

If you love Massachusetts’ oceans and care about our legendary fishing industry, then CLF is asking you to take action right now to ask Governor Patrick to stand behind the science-based plan he approved to protect that fishing legacy for generations to come.

For the first time in decades, Massachusetts’ fish populations and fishing industry are showing signs of health. Earlier this year, after a four-year public process, New England implemented an innovative new approach to fishing for cod, haddock, flounder and other groundfish. Today, overall gross revenues for the groundfish fleet are up, fishermen are not overharvesting fish and fishing boats are being operated more efficiently.

Governor Patrick voted to put the new plan in place and has said that he agrees with the approach. However, now Governor Patrick is taking action that threatens to undermine the new plan, endangering the sustainability of fish stocks and the livelihoods of the fishermen who depend on them.

Under pressure from entrenched fishing interests who do not like the new system, the Governor petitioned the federal Secretary of Commerce to declare a state of economic emergency in Massachusetts fisheries and is supporting a lawsuit that challenges the groundfish management plan. These special interests are leading the Governor astray from his stated commitment to finding a balance between conservation and economic viability in the regulation of groundfishing in Massachusetts. The Governor’s actions are emboldening others, including some in Massachusetts’ congressional delegation, to propose even more radical steps that would dismantle the progress that has been made over the last decade. You can ask the Governor to stand by the plan that he approved by sending him a letter right now.

Tell Governor Patrick that instead of spending scarce state resources trying to undo groundfish protection, both in Massachusetts and in Washington, you want him to focus on defining and fixing the problems with the new plan without undermining the plan itself, or changing the scientifically-set catch limits.

Click here to send a letter to the Governor asking him not to undermine the new fisheries management plan, but instead to build a bridge between fishermen, regulators and the environmental community to make the new plan work for Massachusetts.