Posted on 01/02/2021 12:04:49 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump vetoed a bill Friday that would have gradually ended the use of large-mesh drift gillnets deployed exclusively in federal waters off the coast of California, saying such legislation would increase reliance on imported seafood and worsen a multibillion-dollar seafood trade deficit.
Trump also said in his veto message to the Senate that the legislation sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., “will not achieve its purported conservation benefits.”
Trump vetoed the fishing bill as the Republican-controlled Senate followed the Democratic-led House and voted to overturn his earlier veto of the annual defense policy bill, enacting it into law despite Trump’s objections.
The fishing bill’s sponsors said large-mesh drift gillnets, which measure between 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) and 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) long and can extend 200 feet (60.9 meters) below the surface of the ocean, are left in the waters overnight to catch swordfish and thresher sharks. But they said at least 60 other marine species - including whales, dolphins and sea lions - can also become entangled in the nets, where they are injured or die.
It is illegal to use these nets in U.S. territorial waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and off the coasts of Washington state, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. They remain legal in federal waters off California’s coast.
In 2018, California passed a four-year phase out of large-mesh drift gillnets in state waters to protect marine life.
The bill Trump vetoed would have extended similar protections to federal waters off California’s shoreline within five years and authorized the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help the commercial fishing industry switch to more sustainable types of gear.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Overruled by an Odiousbama clown-judge-president in 3...2...1...
T post. Hooray Chief
Why would Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., co-sponsor a bill about fishing in California with a China compromised democrat fossil senator?
Imported seafood?
ChiCom seafood?
If so, nuff said.
F’ing Kaliforniacs. Why is there so much Dunning-Kruger syndrome there?
Why would someone from landlocked West Virginia be meddling in ocean regulations?
Because the ChiComs paid her to.
I don’t understand why he would veto this.
There’s little commercial value to sharks and swordfish on the west coast, and these nets do substantial harm.
I don’t either and I’m a commercial fisherman here in commiefornia. They bought most of the nets and permits for some pretty good money and the fisherman switched over to a drop gear/hook and line method developed over the last 15 years or so.
Oh well.
I know of a 58,000 hp container ship that got caught in one of these. They spent half a day working the engines to get free.
That’s called “whitefish” in your frozen food section.
Vote trading
We are importing over 90% of seafood consumed.
The enviro-whackos have decimated the American fishing industry.
Good for Trump on this one.
A win for commercial fishermen - one of the very few
Read post #10.
It doesn’t help conserve or expand the industry to keep these nets in use.
And they do great harm.
My wife says if Newsome is recalled and Trump doesn’t prevail, Trump should run for Governor of California.
I have no idea if these huge nets but with large spacing in the net are good or bad. The fact the spacing of the net size is large ensures all the smaller fish are not affected. If they catch nothing but the larger and mature fish and do not affect the total fish population this is good. If it does not do this it is bad.
The article did not address the science and thus the article is lacking in the extreme.
Thank you for your post. One of the things I really appreciate about free republic is hearing from people who have personal knowledge of what is being discussed.
“And they do great harm.”
Who is putting that out, PEW?
Same propaganda was used to get gill nets banned in Florida.
A major enviro- org was invited aboard a university owned fishery research vessel that was testing turtle excluder devices off the east coast of Florida. The vessel deliberately was trying to entangle a sea turtle and fished an area that the shrimpers avoided. They caught one and brought it aboard as is normally done. Then they videoed the turtle on its back on deck (before it was released alive - not videoed) They then used that video in statewide TV ads to sway the public to ban gill nets. Afterwards, the university wrote a letter to them correctly stating that it was a fraudulent use of that video footage.
And I say that as someone that strongly opposed run around gill nets that were used on king mackeral in Florida. Those nets decimated the kingfish stocks to the point that their genetic migratory memory was altered.
Just because it’s a gill net does mean it does great harm. Not all do.
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