Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we have to fix this. To use the black sea bass example, the species is comanaged by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Rhode Island only has a seat on the Atlantic States Commission; it does not have a vote on the Mid-Atlantic Council. That means that my State is not fully represented in the decision-making process, and perfectly good black sea bass keeps being thrown into the sea by fishermen who ought to be able to bring that catch home. In 2016, NOAA scientists assessed the vulnerability to the effects of climate change of over 80 commercially valuable species in the Northeast. So this is not just a story about black sea bass or about lobsters; this Northeast climate vulnerability assessment ranked species based on climate risk and sensitivities to changing ocean conditions. Here is the climate risk factor graph. As we see, all 80 species scored in the high or very high risk of climate exposure categories. All 80 commercially valuable species they studied faced high or very high risk. This is a red flag for our fisheries. Maine is the place for lobster. In Rhode Island, squid is king. In 2016, 56 percent of the longfin squid caught on the east coast was landed in Rhode Island. According to NOAA, this catch was valued at over $28 million, accounting for nearly 30 percent of our landings value in 2016. But climate change is putting our calamari at risk.…”