TITUSVILLE โ Commercial fishing interests gathered at a seafood joint Tuesday to cast doubt on federal fisheries data and spell out the ripple effects a red-snapper ban and other fishing closures are having on the local economy.
โWhat Iโve seen in the past 10 years is the demise of our industry,โ said Jim Busse, president of Seafood Atlantic at Port Canaveral, whoโs watched longtime friends have to hang up their fishing gear. โIโve seen them lose their houses. Iโve seen them get their trucks repossessed.โ
Laurilee Thompson, owner of Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant, hosted the event to talk to business leaders and politicians about the danger of new regulations, which fishermen say arenโt necessary or based on solid scientific proof. She pointed out that the dayโs lunch was all locally caught seafood.
โNothing here is imported,โ Thompson said.
โIโve seen overfishing, Iโve been part of it,โ said Thompson, a former commercial angler, โand I can tell you now thereโs not even 2 percent of the commercial fishing effort as compared to the late โ70s and โ80s.โ
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