Lawmaker correct to oppose closing more offshore areas to fishing

Re: Sept. 25 letter from Stephen Goldfinch, “More no-fishing zones unjustified”

Our thanks to state Rep. Stephen Goldfinch for opposing more closed fishing areas in the South Atlantic and particularly off the Grand Strand at the famed Georgetown Hole.

Goldfinch’s opposition is based on the facts: these proposed spawning Special Management Zones are not part of any fishery rebuilding plan and duplicate 700 square miles of existing no-fishing Marine Protected Areas (170 square miles are off South Carolina’s coast) that were put in place for the same purpose.

He is also correct that six years after these MPAs have been in place, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has yet to adopt a systematic monitoring and evaluation plan to determine their effectiveness.

Additionally, as Goldfinch points out, there are nearly 24,000 square miles of coral protected areas in which bottom fishing is substantially restricted. According to SAFMC documents, these areas are 50 percent as effective as MPAs in protection efficiency and equate to 12,000 square miles of no-fishing MPAs - additional protection for spawning snapper-grouper species about the size of Rhode Island, Delaware, and Connecticut combined.

Along with Goldfinch we support sustainable fisheries. However, these Special Management Zones cannot be justified and represent an unnecessary burden to fishermen and the coastal economy.

The writer lives in Murrells Inlet.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Lawmaker correct to oppose closing more offshore areas to fishing."