FAIRHAVEN, Mass. — August 22, 2012 — Two years ago, Jane Derego's husband, a Fairhaven lobsterman, suffered a stroke and can no longer work. His boat is in storage and because of an unresponsive bureaucracy his wife said she has been unable to sell his fishing permit for some desperately needed funds.
Derego broke down as she shared her ordeal with Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., as he met with a group of about two dozen fishermen's wives at the Seaport Inn Tuesday afternoon.
Brown vowed to investigate and pledged to continue his support for the struggling sectors of the fishing industry in Massachusetts.
"Apart from veteran's issues, it's my number one priority," Brown said.
The informal gathering was chaired by Brown's wife, Gail Huff, on leave from her job at a TV station in Washington, D.C., to aid in his bid for re-election. "Fishing is the first thing Scott sank his teeth into when he got elected," Huff told the women whose husbands work in various local fisheries such as groundfishing, inshore and offshore lobstering.
The issues raised at the meeting were familiar ones and included complaints about the flawed science used to estimate fish stocks; low catch limits; rising industry costs; and the wildly fluctuating prices fishermen get for their catch.
"Sen. Brown has been very concerned and committed to our industry and making sure that there is an industry going forward," said Laura Foley Ramsden, co-owner of Foley Fish in New Bedford in introducing the senator.
However, Brown's opening remarks also addressed the controversy surrounding U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin of Missouri. "I found his comments about rape to be insulting, outrageous and really inappropriate," he said.
On fishing, the lack of trust between fishermen and regulators is a fundamental problem that must be addressed, Brown told the gathering. "Industry must be given a seat at the table. The people in Washington don't have the working knowledge of what's out there," he said.
Brown's own local knowledge was tested as he twice referred to UMass Dartmouth's SMAST marine science school as SEMASS, the waste to energy facility in Rochester.
The Fairhaven stop came on the second day of a statewide campaign swing billed by his staff as the "Provincetown to Pittsfield Tour."
"I'm happy he came to listen to the women's point of view," said Debra Canastra, whose husband, Ray, co-owns the seafood display auction in New Bedford.
Read the full story in the New Bedford Standard Times