Interstate fishing regulators are meeting to discuss a Trump administration decision they say has the ability to jeopardize conservation of marine resources on the East Coast.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is meeting Tuesday in Alexandria, Virginia. The commission has disagreed recently with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross over a decision he made about summer flounder fishing.
The commission announced in June it had found New Jersey out of compliance with management of the fishery. Ross needed to sign off on the commission’s ruling for a local fishing moratorium to take effect, and he instead reversed it.
The commission has said the ruling has the ability to soften its regulatory authority. The commerce department is defending the decision.
Summer flounder are fished from Maine to Florida.
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