Fishing

Before the 109th congress faded into the pages of history, it rushed to pass a flurry of legislation. Included amongst this group was an amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The legislation deals with, in part, high seas fishing and monitoring of fishing compliance.

President Bush must have hurt himself jumping on this bandwagon.

ENSLink

President George W. Bush intends to sign the measure into law. "This bill embraces my priorities of ending overfishing and rebuilding our nation's fish stocks through more effective, market-based management and tougher enforcement. This landmark legislation also provides stronger tools to achieve progress internationally to ensure healthy fish stocks, promote better management, and halt destructive fishing practices based on sound science," he said in a statement.

Umm, I'll assume that putting into effect legislation that sends more mercury into the oceans (The inaptly named Clearskies legislation.) and the fish residing therein is apparently of little or no concern. In fact, Clearskies rolls back air quality standards and allows more flexibility (read more pollution) for the plants of manufacturers (read big business). That the last minute revisions seem at odds with Clearskies has apparently not been grasped by our hardworking legislators. But at least we'll have plenty of mercury-laden fish.