December 10, 2015 — A group of East Coast fishermen and a government watchdog group are suing the federal government over a shift in the cost of at-sea fishing monitors that they say could further decimate an industry that is already reeling.
Of the 50 fishing boats in the Greater New Bedford harvesting sector, just three will be left if fishermen are forced to pay for their own federal monitors starting Jan. 1. Of those three boats working in Sector 13, only the “Buzzards Bay” out of New Bedford will definitely continue to fish, according to sector manager John Haran of Dartmouth.
With the cost of the monitors, and the other federal restrictions on fishing, Haran said fishing boat owners will be losing money on their trips, effectively having to pay crew members $1,000 apiece for their trip.
“It’s just a deeper and deeper hole from trip after trip that they can’t recover from,” said David Goethel, a Hampton, N.H.-based single boat owner. He said he the cost is a pretty serious burden for the remaining groundfishermen.
“I’ll tie my boat up the day you have to pay,” he said. “I simply will not be able to break even.”