Council Member Joann Ariola has written to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to call on the federal government to establish a 12-nautical-mile buffer preventing industrial menhaden fishing along the Atlantic coast.
Ariola warned Lutnick that that the overhavesting of menhaden populations – commonly known as bunker – in waters off Jamaica Bay and the Rockaway Peninsula may be contributing to increased shark sightings near New York City beaches, which she claimed was having a detrimental impact on local economies.
