CHATHAM, Mass. — October 24, 2013 — When the 45-foot vessel the Lori B departs here for windy, 30-hour monk-fishing voyages, Nick Muto knows he will be sharing cramped quarters with his crew, the haul and often an unwelcome guest: a federally mandated observer who makes sure legal catch limits aren't exceeded.
As the oversight program has grown in tandem with the government's use of quotas to prevent overfishing, so has friction between fleets and observers, from Cape Cod to Alaska. That has led to a push by crews and their advocates to replace human observers with cameras, an option regulators are exploring.
"We don't want them on the boat. We feel as though they're out there to kind of shut us down," said Mr. Muto, a burly crew captain and the chairman of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance. Saying cameras would be more reliable and cause less tension, he described seasick observers who stayed in their bunks and others who "don't give us any respect that we know what we're doing."
Observers, often young biology graduates who work for private companies that contract with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, say they are well trained and necessary for thwarting illegal overfishing. They earn between $13 and $17 an hour in a job with high turnover.
"It's almost like hazing; they're going to make your life as hard as possible," 28-year-old Christopher Stump said of the crews he worked with off Gloucester, Mass. The Arizona native entered the field after attending a marine-technician program in Hawaii, where he works as an observer after a stint in the Northeast.
Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal