Longtime Fisherman Weighs In On New England Fishery Management Councils Recent Votes
The New England Fishery Management Council made the right move recently, voting to ask the federal government to suspend an at-sea monitoring program required of the groundfish industry, according to long-time fishermen Fred Mattera, who said shifting the cost to fishermen could decimate the industry. Mattera said fishermen area also pleased with the council’s vote to re-open areas in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank to commercial fishing. (photo) Read the rest here 09:49
I agree with Fred although his costs are on the low side. We are looking
at costs of 600-750 dollars per day with day boats paying half day
rates if less then 12 hours dock to dock, then there will be travel time
and mileage, also a $100 trip cancellation fee if the boat has a
problem before leaving or he cancels for bad weather. This is to gather
information for the government to put more regulations on the fishermen.
To
his comment about the closed areas, the public should understand these
are called closed areas but in reality they are limited access areas.
They started out as spawning area closure, then became limited access
areas with clammers, scallopers, lobstermen,herring boats, hook boats
all allowed in part or all of the closed areas. Enviromentalists have
taken the word closed and misled the public into believing these were
true closed areas Mark Phillips F/V Illusion