December 27, 2013 — It’s been 15 months now since Rebecca Blank, then the acting secretary heading the U.S. Department of Commerce, formally declared the Northeast groundfishery an “economic disaster.”
And since that time, fishermen out of Gloucester and other ports around New England and the Northeast have been confronted with dire NOAA-driven landing cuts of up to 78 percent and other problems, all of which have stretched the fishery to a point of crisis that’s approaching one of no return.
Still, with independent fishermen selling off their boats, and in some cases their homes, to find a means of support for themselves and their families, the federal government largely responsible for these death-through-regulation mandates and policies has still not provided a dime of meaningful aid for those on the front lines of the crisis.
Read the full opinion piece at the Gloucester Daily Times