The same thing has already happened to their neighbors to the north. Canadian authorities shut down the fishing industry in Newfoundland, which had supported the locals for generations, due in part to foreign factory ships looting the fishing grounds. As these local songs tell:
Where Did The Fisherman Go?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue3WN5lHOYQ
She’s gone boys, She’s gone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv5zlrLlkxI
Will they lie there ever more?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNhrJbz1Qg8
If our Coast Guard can't do it, it sounds to me like the sensible thing to do would be to hire and equip. the fishermen to protect their fishing grounds. Oh, wait. I forgot. That would be asking the gov't to do something sensible.
Foreign fishing fleets looting the grounds is Exactly right! Done via their US-government-supplied federal fishing permits handed out by political committees to foreign shell companies whose campaign contributions are not reportable or traceable.
The fisheries in Newfoundland had collapsed before the Canadians shut it down. After 20 years it has just started showing signs of recovery and it is going to be years before it can be opened for fishing again. The dynamics of fisheries do not follow the dynamics of the free market (demand-supply) so this is one of the rare cases where external regulation is necessary. Collapse of fisheries is a worldwide phenomenon and can no longer be avoided. Even if the govt. didn’t regulate the New England industry, the fisheries would collapse anyway. This whole issue is nothing like the climate change or whatever, in the sense that it is obvious and very real.