In addition, we will call on Congress to strengthen controls over bottom trawling, which have long been ignored. AOC will compel Fishery Management Councils to put tough trawling restrictions in place where they are needed. Quite honestly, this will be no easy task. The Councils, whose job it is to devise management plans for all federal waters within their jurisdiction. are made up largely of commercial fishermen, including trawlers - a little like the fox guarding the chicken coop. AOC will build support for sensible controls among local fishermen.
Fishermen know the oceans better than anyone.
Certainly, better than officials in Washington. And they well realize that greed today will only spell disaster tomorrow. Crabbers and oystermen on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay agreed years ago to limit their catch in order to sustain the productivity of the Bay. Local trawl fishermen will understand that, if sea beds are raked clean and fish populations plummet, their livelihoods could be wiped out. It will take substantial resources, both human and financial.