Re: Comments on Herring Amendment 5 NOA and Proposed Rule

Please read the below sample letter that needs to be submitted by 5:00 pm tomorrow (Friday June 21st, 2013).

You can download the Word file at Offshore Pursuits below the sample letter (change the signature before you post it). There is also a link below that with instructions on how to submit the letter.

This matter is very important to all of us. It affects the commercial fisheries and the recreational fisheries, as well as all the support industries that rely on the above for the very existence. Please read and respond. Thanks. Dave

June 17^th, 2013

John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator

NMFS Northeast Regional Office

55 Great Republic Drive

Gloucester, MA 01930

Re: Comments on Herring Amendment 5 NOA and Proposed Rule

Dear John,

I am writing today to urge you to fully approve Herring Amendment 5 and then implement these regulations as outlined in the Proposed Rule (PR). I would put specific emphasis on the need to move forward with the preferred alternatives chosen by the Council that would put in place 100% observer coverage and a cap on slippage (dumping).

As a fisherman, I rely heavily on the health of the herring resource. Proper management of the Atlantic herring fishery is therefore essential to me. For too many years, the herring fleet—in particular the midwater trawl portion of it—has been managed poorly.

Amendment 5 was developed in order to address the problems in the herring plan. While there are many important components to the amendment, the cap on slippage and 100% observer coverage are the two pieces that make everything else possible. These two measures, voted in by a large margin by the Council, are absolutely essential in order to get a handle on what is happening in this fishery.

As you know, herring is the cornerstone of the ecosystem off our coast, and it drives all of the other fisheries in the region, from striped bass, to the giant bluefin tuna. It is essential that NMFS fully approves Amendment 5 and then implements the new regulations as set forth in the PR. This resource is far too important and the resulting economic impact far too valuable to the region to be managed inadequately.

Thanks for your time,

David Dodsworth

Offshore Pursuits

dave@offshorepursuits.com