Seed Daily: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has published a final rule in the Federal Register prohibiting the harvesting of krill in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. The rule goes into effect on August 12, 2009. Krill are a small shrimp-like crustacean and a key source of nutrition in the marine food web."Krill are the foundation for a healthy marine ecosystem," said Mark Helvey, NOAA's Fisheries Service Southwest Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries. "Protecting this vital food resource will help protect and maintain marine resources and put federal regulations in line with West-Coast states."
While the States of California, Oregon and Washington currently have regulations prohibiting the harvesting of krill within three miles of their coastlines, there was no similar federal restriction within the three to 200-mile confines of the EEZ. The krill prohibition was adopted as Amendment 12 to the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which was developed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
The krill harvest prohibition was originally proposed to the PFMC and NOAA Fisheries Service by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. The rule implements Amendment 12 to the FMP and is intended to preserve key nutritional relationships in the California Current ecosystem, which includes five National Marine Sanctuaries….
Line drawing of Bentheuphausia amblyops; by Lupo. After Mauchline, J.: Euphausiacea: Adults, Conseil International de l'Exploration de la Mer, 1971; who in turn reproduced the drawing after Sars, G. O.: Bentheuphausia amblyops, in Rep. scient. Results Voyage H.M.S. Challenger 1873-76, 13(3), 1885.
No comments:
Post a Comment