Plot by Dept. of Commerce and Congressional Leaders to Gut Magnuson Revealed in Red Snapper Memos
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] by Peggy Parker - October 11, 2017
Internal memos between Earl Comstock, Director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross show that both men intentionally violated the Magnuson-Stevens Act to allow sports fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico a summer of weekend openers for red snapper.
As a result of the decision, the quota for red snapper was exceeded by an estimated 50 percent. Prior to the decision, red snapper stocks in the Gulf were halfway through a successful rebuilding program. The damage done to the stocks will be assessed this year and likely would result in further cuts to all sectors -- recreational, commercial, and charter -- next year.
But the insistence to break the law had more nefarious motives...
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