In Part 1, Jonathan Elias observes that fishermen are trying to live by the rules, but in the process they are losing good fish, losing time, and not making as much money as they used to.  It's a risky business, both from the elements, but also from the government restrictions.  Observing a fisherman disposing of excess catch, Jonathan Elias asks about rules that require fishermen to throw good fish overboard where only birds and crabs will eat them.

In Gloucester, fishing is a family business, handed down from generation to generation, "but with all the rules and regulations, they say that is coming to an end".

In Part 2,  fishermen say their livelihoods are on the line and they blame the Federal Government.  Some say enforcement even for minor violations go way too far.  WBZ looks at the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, which the station describes as a "popular target for Federal Agents".

WBZ's Jonathan Elias observes Federal enforcement practices, which sometimes file charges four or five years after the alleged violations as being like "you getting caught cheating in 10th grade, but I don't come to you until you are a freshman in college..."  NOAA deputy special agent Timothy Donovan says they can't "turn a case over overnight."

Agent Donovan insists that "...the inspiration isn't maybe we can write a few tickets and collect that money."  But Massachusetts Attorney General and Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate Martha Coakley expressed concern that NOAA's motivation for overzealous enforcement might be that NMFS keeps all the civil fines that fishermen pay.   She stated  "I think it deserves a really full inquiry... The last thing the fishing industry needs is unfair enforcement by a federal agency."

Watch Part 1 on Regulation

Watch Part 2 on Enforcement