Posted on 07/05/2011 8:41:32 AM PDT by george76
Captains issue S.O.S., claiming new rules meant to save the fish are killing their way of life.
With the height of the New England fishing season getting under way this week, small family fishermen say controversial new rules are destroying their livelihood — forcing them to sell their boats and instead search for work as laborers on larger vessels.
“It’s a death knell. It’s the beginning of the end for small fishermen,” said Rhode Island fisherman Joel Hovanesian, 54, who recently sold his boat.
Plymouth fisherman Stephen Welch, 50, a father of two, said: “We’re in a crisis right now.”
Figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show larger operations appear to have benefited.
...
Tina Jackson, president of the American Alliance for Fishermen and their Communities: “This has been so devastating to communities up and down the East Coast. . . . It’s a bad program. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t save fish stock.”
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
The government/corporate-complex uber alles.
It was never intended to. The real purpose is reflected in the article title.
Exactly.
Create government obstacles that only certain favored companies can overcome, or offer government gifts that only certain favored companies can take advantage of.
Fishing, light bulbs, TARP, cap-n-trade... the list goes on.
America is becoming corporatist tyranny.
Current gubmint policies crowd people into ever larger groups. It makes them more manageable ... more “controllable” if you will.
The fewer people to whom the choke hold must be applied, the easier it is to apply that hold.
If a variety of toilets are sold, and gubmint tells us to buy the 1.6 gallon, few will comply. If gubmint tells Kohler that it is now illegal to build “high-capacity” thrones, voila!, we all buy what the socialist in charge wanted us to buy in the first place.
No independent fishermen? All at once, it only takes one trip to the wood-shed for the guy who now employs them all to maintain order.
Hey you guys in the deep Blue Lib states! THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE NEW LAWS!
HOW'S THAT 'HOPE AND CHANGE' THINGY WORKIN' OUT FOR YA?................
CRONY-PHONY-CAPITALISM!....................
It’s the beginning of the end for small fishermen.
(replace ‘fisherman’ with ‘business’)
Corporatism is just too complicated when you have too many ‘small businesses’.
HOPE & CHANGE MORONS!
Great point. It would be interesting to see how many of these ‘small’ fisherman voted for the marxist and by extension their own suicide.
I’m no expert, but the same thing is happening here in NC. Sad to watch a way of life disappear. But then we watch the foreign trawlers sail side by side down the river, nets lowered scooping everything, impervious to the harsh regulations the citizens have to endure.
But like farmers, fishermen are an independent lot. Easy pickins for the corporates.
Also makes it easier to extort them for campaign contributions.
knock, knock. HELLO! MCFLY!!
The "overfishing" game has been played almost as well as the "peak oil" charade.
Corporatism is just too complicated when you have too many ‘small businesses’.
That is exactly the same spew from robert Reich when he was in the Clinton Administration.
And yet they continue to vote for Democrats? How do you feel sorry for people who continue to support those who are the heart of their difficulties?
I am curious, are these regulations being imposed on all boats that fish our coastal waters? If so OK maybe the program will work, if not why not?
My fisherman friends on the small commercial boats, etc are mad to see the big foreign boats pulling huge catches. Then seeing them canned right on the trawlers. Its a d@mn shame how many people are losing their way of life. Jobs & boats, farms etc are being lost and still no end in sight.
Fishermen are given allotments of fish .
Under the old system, fishermen were allowed a certain number of days at sea.
In 2009, Americans consumed 15.8 pounds of seafood per person, down 0.2 pounds a person from 2008. U.S. consumers spent an estimated $75.5 billion for fishery products in 2009, including $50.3 billion at restaurants, carry-outs, and caterers; $23.8 billion in retail sales for consumption at home, and $1.4 billion for industrial fish products.
In 2009, imports made up 84% of the seafood eaten in the United States. The United States imported about 5.2 billion pounds of seafood in 2009, 64.4 million pounds less than the quantity imported in 2008. 2009 imports were valued at $13.1 billion, $1.0 billion less than 2008. We mainly import from China, Thailand, Canada, Indonesia, Vietnam, Ecuador, and Chile. The top species we import (by volume) include shrimp, tuna, salmon, groundfish, freshwater fish, crab, and squid.
In 2009, the United States exported 2.5 billion pounds of seafood, valued at $4.0 billion, a decrease of 103.8 million pounds and $277.1 million from 2008. We mainly export seafood to China, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Germany, and the Netherlands. The major fresh and frozen exports were salmon, surimi, and lobsters; salmon was the major canned item exported.
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/trade_and_aquaculture.htm
One of the comments following the article:
NOAA wants to build ocean wind turbines in 3000 square miles of proposed ocean leased space in traditional fishing grounds .The people that run NOAA are mostly people from environmental groups that back commercial wind .NOAA has given millions in research grants for commercial wind and fined fishermen as much as $19,000.00 for catching twenty extra fish . The state of Massachusetts is building the 100 million dollar New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal /ocean wind port for private ocean wind contractors - NOAA wants the fishing boats out of New Bedford to continue their private agenda !
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.