Some New England herring fishermen added their names to a federal lawsuit that argues that trawlers should not be allowed to drag their nets through groundfish spawning areas, which are closed to other types of fishing.
“To let these guys fish in a closed area is really inexcusable,” said Glenn Robbins of Eliot, who owns a purse seine vessel based out of Rockland. “They’re destroying the groundfish industry. The stock will never rebuild, as long as you’re letting people in there with trawlers.”
But the midwater trawl fishermen targeted by the lawsuit feel that their fleet does not negatively affect federally protected groundfish stocks and that the suit is essentially a red herring.