Peter Shelley
Senior Counsel | CLF Massachusetts | @peashell47
Peter Shelley is Senior Counsel at CLF Massachusetts. Until 2010, Peter served as Vice President and Director of CLF Massachusetts. He was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Conservation and the Environment in 1996 and the David B Stone Medal by the New England Aquarium in 2003. Before CLF, Peter served for five years as an Assistant Attorney General for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources. Peter has a BA from Hobart College and received his JD with honors from Suffolk University Law School. He is admitted to the bar in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, State of Maine, State of Pennsylvania and U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Recent Posts
Jan 19 2022
On November 6, 2017, Carlos “The Codfather” Rafael reported to federal prison to begin serving a 46-month sentence for his admitted criminal activities while at the helm of the largest fishing operation in New England’s groundfish fishery. That fishery has survived many ups and downs. Yet, this scandal left small-scale fishermen and their communities more…
Feb 13 2020
No fish is as closely tied to New England’s economy and culture as Atlantic cod. Coastal indigenous people fished cod for generations. For European settlers, cod fueled global trade for centuries. A wooden carving of the “Sacred Cod” hangs in the Massachusetts State House in recognition of the fish’s historic, cultural, and economic importance. But…
Jul 10 2019
Natural resources here in the Commonwealth face increasing development pressure, particularly in our coastal areas. While numerous state and local regulations are designed to protect our natural resources, one state law – known as the Dover Amendment – currently creates a potential loophole from local environmental protections when projects are proposed by nonprofit educational and…
Jun 18 2019
This is part two of a three-part series on the current state of Atlantic cod in New England. Part two explores how poor decisions by New England’s fishery managers have led to cod’s demise. Read part one about the problem of inaccurate data here. New England’s storied cod population is on brink of collapse. The…
Oct 11 2018
President Teddy Roosevelt memorably observed that “there can be nothing in the world more beautiful” than the natural wonders of the United States. Roosevelt may have been talking about what would become iconic national parks like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, but a recent federal court ruling recognized that New England’s underwater monument is fully on par with these other…
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