Summary
This bill would prohibit the taking of striped bass from the Hudson River for commercial purposes and sets a repeal date for its provisions of April 1, 2011.

Explanation
For compelling health and wildlife management reasons, commercial bass fishing is prohibited on the Hudson River. This will remain the case for the foreseeable future—at least until the PCB superfund program Hudson River clean up has run its course, a process that will take a decade or more. When the cleanup is completed, any restoration of a commercial fishery would be subjected to a rigorous regulatory process involving a number of longstanding, interacting bodies on the state, federal, and community levels. A legislative prohibition, therefore, can only give the agencies currently charged with protecting human health and the environment along the river a shield from their responsibilities, and cause the regulatory safeguards now in place to atrophy.  

The stated rationale of the bill is unsupported—no confirmation of the need for such legislation has been provided by any of the numerous advisory boards and committees set up to deal with Hudson River fishing issues.

Passage of this bill would needlessly inject the New York State Legislature into a delicate and complex regulatory matter and set a dangerous precedent in wildlife management.

Environmental Advocates of New York opposes this bill.