Come on Dom.... I'm not claiming there aren't enough pogies in the Atlantic, just not enough near shore and in the bay from the Chessy to here...
Second link is for just a taste of the article and I really don't want to register to read the whole thing. However, that tease of an article has me scratching my head... The author wants us to believe the menhaden that entered the bay depleted all the oxygen and then died, then killed the other marine life??? Did I read that correctly? I would like to see the science behind that statement... I would be more inclined to think they entered waters deplete of oxygen due to a miriad of problems we know exist up and down the coast. I.E. fertilizer and farm effluent run off bringing huge quantities of nitrogen into the water, resulting in massive algea blooms that in turn deplete the oxygen when they die and ferment on the sea floor. If ya could please, copy the whole article here so I may view its contents. I hate to pass judgenment based on the first paragraph but what I did read appeared baseless.
You have more than once mentioned the "incredibly clean and clear Bay". Where is this mystical bay you speak of? It sure can't be Narragansett! The Bay I know of has a large percentage closed to shellfishing and I see "don't eat the fish" signs around Providence.... I don't know about you but I swim in clean water and the upper bay and its brown water is certainly not a place I would consider. Would you? Is that the "incredibly clean and clear bay" of which you speak? If so, you and I have completely different perspectives.
As for the baitshops.... they in their collective efforts don't harvest a percentage of the 1000's of tons Arc goes after and removes. Remember? The harvesters won't even bother fishing if 1000 tons are not available for harvest
I sure would like to know the poundage they harvest. I'll wager that they take a magnitude more than everyone else COMBINED.
The needs of the many should outweigh the needs of the few.
Err on the side of caution. It's a very small price, even if the authors of the bill are wrong...
Me thinks you are
