December 20, 2012 — This Boston Globe video by Beth Daley captures the anger and frustration boiling over at at the New England Fishery Management Council meeting.
An earlier Boston Globe story described the situation as follows:
Fishermen's frustration, two decades in the making, exploded in a hotel ballroom Thursday as fishery regulators reluctantly debated devastating cuts to the size of the New England fleet's allowable catch.
Fishermen hit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on several missteps that have widened deep mistrust between fishermen and government scientists — major errors on a federal analysis of cod off New England; a disrespectful attitude toward a scientist that industry hired, and problems in enforcement that resulted in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration apologizing and returning hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to fishermen.
Fishermen said the science used to justify fishing cuts is so bad, regulators should ease up on limits until it improves.
Watch the video at The Boston Globe.