Boston – June 21, 2011 – (Boston Globe) For more than four decades fishing was Lawrence Yacubian's job, a way to put food on the table, pay bills, and support his family. But after being hit with $430,000 in fines for repeatedly crossing over a federally designated fishing zone, the New Bedford scalloper says he was forced to sell off most of his assets, including his boat, to pay the penalty.
Yesterday morning, Yacubian testified before a US Senate subcommittee hearing at Faneuil Hall, jointly led by senators Scott Brown, the ranking Republican, and Tom Carper, Democrat of Delaware and the chairman.
Yacubian and dozens of other local fishermen say they have been victims of an overzealous federal enforcement policy that levied unfair fines against them and then inappropriately used money to pay for overseas trips, boats, and vehicles for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.
Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.