BOSTON – August 26, 2010 – Aboard the fishing trawler Bulldog – Around noon, at least 20 fishing vessels began circling Vineyard Haven’s harbor, blasting their air horns and displaying banners to protest President Obama’s restrictions on commercial fishing that they say threaten their livelihood.
Two U.S. Coast Guard Zodiac boats intercepted the flotilla of protesters minutes out from the president’s vacation paradise, but were keeping their distance and have so far made no attempt to stop the fishermen either physically or by radio.
But there was no sign along the sunsplashed holiday coast – other than the contingent of Coasties – that the president or the federal government had taken any notice of the protest. On a handful of pleasure boats out on a sunny day, however, civilian boaters gave the thumbs-up sign, waved and blew their air horns. The White House referred comment to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the fisheries, where a spokesperson could not be immediately reached.
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