Jones Urges Administration to Restore Fishing Access | Eastern North Carolina Now

News Release:

    WASHINGTON, DC     This week, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) joined six of his congressional colleagues in urging the Trump administration to restore fishing access off the coast of the Northeastern United States. The move comes after President Obama's unilateral decision in September of 2016 to create the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument. The monument designation included a prohibition on commercial fishing in more than 4,900 square miles of ocean, an area about the size of Connecticut. Crab and lobster fisheries were exempted for seven years. In a letter to President Trump, Jones and his colleagues called for the current fishing restrictions to be lifted. They also suggested that fisheries management inside the monument boundaries be returned to the regional fisheries management councils, which responsibly managed fisheries there for decades.

    "This unnecessary overreach needs to be corrected," said Congressman Jones. "It hurts American fishermen, it hurts the communities they support economically, and it hurts the American consumers who want fresh, locally-sourced seafood. The fisheries management councils are more than capable of ensuring sustainable access to the resource. I hope the president and his team will do what they can to help."

    Congressman Jones has long been a strong advocate for Eastern North Carolina fishermen, some of whom fished in the waters that are now closed.

    For additional information, please contact Allison Tucker in Congressman Jones' office at (202) 225-3415 or allison.tucker@mail.house.gov.