April 9, 2016 — Ron Smolowitz accuses small-boat scallopers of “gaming the system” to access the Nantucket Lightship fishing area (“Working the system makes the system unworkable,” My View, April 2).
As Smolowitz knows, in December New England Fishery Management Council scientists sent a memo saying there weren’t any conservation concerns with limited fishing there. The proposed access was so small it wouldn’t make sense for Smolowitz’s big-boat fishermen, catching 17,000 pounds per trip, to fish there. But small-boat fishermen can catch only 600 pounds a day, so the proposed access gives us 500 trips — which makes a huge difference for our families and community.