“We’re in pretty bad shape,” Commercial fishermen, fishing industry decline over the past 20 years
North Carolina commercial fishermen have complained for decades that government regulations and a variety of other factors threaten their livelihood and have them headed the way of endangered species. Glenn Skinner of Newport, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association an advocacy group of commercial fishermen, said statistics back that up. “These declines are the result of many different factors. with regulations, the fear of future regulations or outright bans on commercial fishing gears being a significant factor,” Skinner said. He said public perception and political agendas drive the regulations. >click to read< 11:26
The allocation part of it isn’t about the strength or the health of the stock,” he said. “It’s about fairness and there are many more recreational fishermen than there are commercial fishermen.”
This is the part that the management folks always use as their excuse. While what they say may be true, what they should be looking at is what the commercial industry provides to the consumer. The everyday working class people who can’t afford to go buy a recreational vessel and go play. Put those numbers against the recreational machine and get real!
Once again the working class folks take it in the shorts.