NEW BEDFORD (January 14, 2009) — Safety concerns prompted by the recentsinking of the fishing vessel Patriot brought Gloucester Mayor CarolynKirk to the Whaling City Tuesday to ask the local fishing industry tosupport her efforts in making vessel tracking devices a common searchand rescue tool.
The Coast Guard’s response to the Jan. 3 sinking has raised "many questions," specifically why the Coast Guard does not consistently use the Vessel Monitoring System or VMS — a satellite-based tracking device that the federal government uses to enforce fishing regulations — to locate distressed fishing vessels, Mayor Kirk said during a meeting of the New Bedford Mayor’s Ocean and Fisheries Council. The council met for the purpose of plotting its strategy to get the federal government to overhaul what members see as a flawed fishing regulatory system that is leading to the demise of New England’s once-prosperous groundfishing industry. Read the SouthCoastToday.com story in full