Editor, Gazette-Journal:

As the partner/owner of a small business, I am deeply concerned about the proposed menhaden fishing limitations as outlined in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Draft Amendment 2. The unprecedented harvest cuts within this amendment will severely and negatively impact Omega Protein’s operations in Reedville. Omega Protein has been a long and important customer of Courthouse Construction, Inc. Any hardship imposed on them will negatively affect our business.

The data being used to support this proposed amendment are questionable at best and those making these important decisions must do so without full confidence in their conclusion. Reports that menhaden are at their lowest levels in years are contradicted by many experts, whose scientific data strongly negates this assumption. ASMFC’s own and latest menhaden stock assessment, conducted this year, was deemed unsuitable for management purposes by their own Menhaden...