Judge Orders Stronger Protection for Rockfish
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A federal judge Wednesday ordered the government to take stronger action to protect diminished stocks of Pacific rockfish.
Ruling in favor of environmental groups, Magistrate Judge James Larson in San Francisco said the National Marine Fisheries Service should start by keeping track of those fish that die after they are inadvertently caught and thrown back. The service had failed to account for such deaths when calculating catch limits for two badly overfished species, bocaccio and lingcod, he said.
Bocaccio, one of many rockfish species sold at markets as “Pacific red snapper,” has declined by 98% since 1969.
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