Great Lakes Fish
State Department Secretary Condoleezza Rice was described by one of Australia's biggest newspapers as the world's most powerful woman. Now, in addition to her duties in Iraq and other hot spots around the globe, she is being asked to cast an eye toward the Great Lakes to help settle a potentially divisive issue: fishing rights.
Stetson Tinkham, deputy director of the State Department's office of marine conservation, acknowledged in an interview that Ms. Rice's agency has quietly started to take a look at how fish harvests, stocking, size limits, and other key management issues have been decided since the mid-1960s.
The last time it did so was 1997, when it dismissed a claim by Ohio commercial fishermen who alleged the Lake Erie Committee - one of five that operate independently under the auspices of the Ann Arbor-based Great Lakes Fishery Commission - was acting beyond its constitutional scope.
The commission, which operates this year on a $20.6 million budget, was founded by the U.S. and Canada in 1955 ostensibly to combat the dreaded sea lamprey's assault on lake trout and other fish. It also was created to be a vehicle for networking information about exotics and general fishing issues. Learn More!
February 13, 2006 6:50 AM | Category: Politics