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New England fishermen say new regulations may lead to collapse of the industry
[FOXNEWS] Fishermen say now they're staring at industry collapse because they've been left with far too few fish for most boats to make a living."We are headed down the wrong course here, of exterminating the inshore fleet, for no good reason," said David Goethel, a New Hampshire fisherman and council member. The cuts, in effect May 1, are expected to be backed by federal managers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA's top federal fisheries regulator, John Bullard, acknowledged the reductions will be devastating. But he said the fish stocks are struggling and the industry's steady, excruciating decline must be reversed. "The first thing we have to do is put denial behind us," he said. The cuts hit an industry that was crucial to the nation's early economy and remains imbued with the risk and romance of man versus nature -- depicted in the famous "Man at the Wheel" statue in Gloucester of a fisherman facing the sea. Awwwww, don't worry guys. Liz Warren's got your back. Just tell her the "Man at the Wheel" was gay... The new low limits reduce the cod catch to just a fraction of what it once was and prevent fishermen from landing more plentiful species, such as haddock and pollock. That's because fishermen can't pull up the healthier groundfish without catching too much of the cod that swim among them. Posted by: Fred 2013-02-02 |
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