Further cut in fluke quota puts Stonington fishermen, wholesaler in peril
Imagine one of the breadwinners in a typical two-earner household is suddenly hit with a 26 percent pay cut. Then, just as the family has adjusted to the leaner budget, the same worker’s pay gets lopped another 30 percent. Their landlord already has reduced their rent, and the family has cut corners wherever they could, so how will they make ends meet now? That’s basically the question Mike Gambardella, owner of Gambardella Wholesale Fish at Stonington Town Dock, is asking himself. He faces a new 30 percent reduction in the supply of fluke, one of his main products, next year, following the 26 percent cut he’s already dealing with this year that’s cost him about $100,000 in revenue. It also forced him to lay off one of his workers and reduce pay for himself and his remaining six workers, and negotiate reduced rent on the building he rents from the town. “At this point,” he said Thursday, “we’re fighting a losing battle. If I lose another $100,000 next year, I can’t afford to stay in business.” The new 30 percent cut in the supply of fluke — also called summer flounder — was announced Aug. 15 by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which regulates fluke and other species for the East Coast along with a larger body, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, but the council basically has the controlling authority. Read the story here 11:14
The state of Rhode Island also is losing on this fisheries nightmare with fluke quotas at all time lows along with a prohibition on possession of black sea bass which are currently over running the inshore waters and at population levels never seen in my 40 years of experience on the water.
As Ct. goes so does RI. RI lands more pounds of Mid Atlantic controlled species than all of the so called Mid Atlantic states combined, yet we nor CT. have any representation on the council.
Using the formula that grants each state representation based upon landings volume, RI would have more representation than any other state involved in the Mid.
Our federal delegation has been aware of this discrepancy for at least ten years. They say they are doing all they can to “fix” this situation. All I see out of Washington DC, where they know all about how to “fix” things is corruption at an unprecedented level. Just ask Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
N.O.A.A. and Atlantic Fishery Management Councils make no CENTS, for our American commercial fishing industry !! They just keep taking ?
FOR THE PEOPLE—BY THE PEOPLE –LOOKS LIKE ITS CHANGED TO — BY GOVERNMENT FOR THE GOVERNMENT ?