BOSTON — Federal regulators faced a barrage of criticism on Monday from elected officials who blamed catch limits for crippling an already waning fishing industry in Massachusetts and costing fishermen their livelihoods.
Citing a concentration of revenue among a small group of top-earning fishing vessels, U.S. Sen. John Kerry said he worried that attempts to replenish overfished populations were hurting small fishermen, and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown described the level of trust between fishermen and the federal government as “beyond repair.”
“This clearly threatens the future of small boat fishing in Massachusetts, which has been a way of life for generations of our families. I want you to know that their way of life will not end on my watch,” Kerry said.
Kerry and Brown led a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Monday focused on economic impacts of new federal regulations to the Massachusetts fishing industry. U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, John Tierney, William Keating and Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) also attended the hearing at the State House.
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