stories left before being redirected to Clickshare to login or
register. Crisis highlights running dispute over US fish law
Saturday, October 6, 2012 BOSTON (AP) — The law that governs the
nation's fisheries was passed 36 years ago to oust foreign boats
working in U.S. waters. Today, New England fishermen wonder if
it will soon oust them. Because of certain controversial
mandates in the law, the fishermen face colossal cuts in how
much they're allowed to catch in 2013. Lawmakers are pushing a
$100 million aid package just to sustain the fleet. The law has
become "an impediment to keeping the fishing industry alive,"
said Scituate fisherman Frank Mirachi But Peter Baker of the Pew
Environment Group said the law isn't to blame for fish
populations that have dwindled over decades, that's exactly what
it can fix. "The law is pointed in the right direction," he
said. Now called the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the fisheries law was
passed in 1976. It created a 200-mile U.S.-controlled zone off
the coasts, from which fore