At 10:15 a.m. Thursday in Galilee, U.S. Senator Jack Reed will be joined by U.S. Representative Jim Langevin, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit and local fisherman in pushing for legislation to give them a seat at the table of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, a regional management board that establishes fishery management rules for stocks primarily caught in federal waters adjacent to the mid-Atlantic coast.
The Rhode Island Fishermen's Fairness Act, which Senator Reed authored and will soon reintroduce in the U.S. Senate, and Congressman Langevin will introduce in the House, would add Rhode Island to the list of seven states with voting representation on the council.
Currently, Rhode Island is a member of the New England Fishery Management Council, which oversees groundfish such as cod, flounder, and haddock.
But the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is responsible for managing squid, as well as other species like mackerel and butterfish.
Read the full story at Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch>>