Legislators from Connecticut and Massachusetts complained about the current “out-of-date allocation formula” in black sea bass, summer flounder and scup fisheries in a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce earlier this week.
Black sea bass, summer flounder and scup clipart from NOAA.16 elected government officials signed the letter, noting that species are heading north due to warming Atlantic waters and saying that the current quota system is leaving New England fishermen “unfairly shortchanged.”
“As fluctuations in ocean temperatures shift fish populations northward, New England fishermen are unfairly shortchanged when bountiful stocks managed by a Fishery Management Council outside of their region allocates local states low catch quotas," read the letter.
The full letter can be read online.
