The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer
Stva Rotk of Wakefield gathers up drying nets after four days of fishing for squid, fluke and monkfish, 85 miles off the Rhode Island coast on the Debbie-Sue, which docks in Galilee in Narragansett.
NARRAGANSETT, R.I. -- Federal management of the fishing industry isn't fair, according to Sen. Jack Reed.
So Thursday, Reed announced his second attempt in two years to pass the Rhode Island Fishermen's Fairness Act.
The goal of the bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and accompanied by an identical House bill submitted by Rep. Jim Langevin, is to allow Rhode Island membership in the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
That's the council that manages the squid industry, which Rhode Island dominates, catching more squid than any other state. Yet Rhode Island is a member of the New England Fishery Management Council and has no say in the management of the squid fishery.
"This is an issue of fairness," Reed said.