On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 00:07:08 -0500, "Capt. Dave"
wrote:

Informational Public Hearings for Marine Protected Areas Scheduled

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is holding a series of
informational public hearings to collect input from area fishermen and
others that may be impacted by the designation of marine protected areas
(MPAs) in federal waters. The Council is considering the use of marine
protected areas as one of several management options to address overfishing
for some deepwater species of fish included in the Council's snapper/grouper
management complex. Nine proposed candidate sites are being considered for
designation.

You need to rally your local clubs state and regionally. I went to
the NE meeting and there were some really weird science being thrown
around top "prove" the side of the eco-types - some of it down right
lies. And when you question their data, the response comes back
"prove us wrong" - well, you can prove a negative - you can't prove
they are right, you can't use they are wrong. I won't get into the
flawed science they tried to blow by the NE meeting - it would take up
to much bandwidth.

I'm not against MPA's - in fact, I think they are needed, but on a
rolling basis - in short a management plan rather than an outright ban
on fishing.

Look what a good management plan did for the Atlantic Striper and
summer fluke.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------
"My rod and my reel - they comfort me."

St. Pete, 12 Lb. Test