August 28, 2012 — Fishermen gathered in Portland today to let the region's new top federal fisheries official know what they think about where the industry is going.
John Bullard was recently appointed to head the Northeast Regional Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Soon after taking the job, Bullard launched a series of "listening sessions'' across New England to hear from stakeholders about the major issues facing the industry and thoughts on how it should be structured.
Today's session was being held at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, on Portland's waterfront. Among those voicing their opinions was Kirk Newkirk, who says he used to make a good living catching cod.
"It is National Marine Fisheries' job to make sure that every single one of us in this room has something to bring home at the end of the day," he said. "When one user group or another user group or any of us don't have fish at the end of the day it's a problem."
Read the full story at the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.