Comment from Blossom, Ruben
Ruben BlossomOpposeIndividual
Summary: The commenter opposes the proposed increases to recreational and commercial shark catch limits, arguing that the changes lack scientific backing. They advocate for maintaining existing limits to protect shark populations and the broader ocean ecosystem.
I strongly oppose flexible recreational retention limits and urge NOAA to support alternative D1, to maintain existing limits for Atlantic sharks. The proposed changes to increase shark catch allowances are not backed by science in anyway and will be detrimental to the continued recovery of shark populations and the broader ocean ecosystem.
Furthermore, I oppose increasing commercial catch limits for blacknose sharks and urge NOAA to support alternative C1, maintaining existing limits. Available data shows that this species is still heavily depleted and again only starting to show signs of recovery.