Aboard the Terra Nova, Peter Cabral struggled yesterday with the repairs to the brake on the fishing boat’s big black winch.
But at least he was dealing with something that elbow grease and sweat would resolve.
What has been much harder to deal with are regulations that have put him, and much of the Provincetown fleet, out of the groundfishing business.
"I sold my (federal groundfish) permit. When they cut back by 52 percent (on scallop fishing days) in March, I sold my (federal) scallop permit," said Cabral, who has rigged his boat to dredge for sea clams in state waters instead.
It hasn’t been just the Provincetown fleet that has suffered under regulations that slashed the number of fishing days to 40 or less for most fishermen in order to rebuild stocks of cod, haddock and flounder.