Vito's idea to save Gloucester's fishing industry with a community permit bank of fishermen's allowed "days at sea" was such a good idea, the state of Massachusetts chose to demand that the LNG companies fully fund the vision. Now, all active, qualified fishermen in Gloucester benefit from the permit bank — not just today's Gloucester fishermen, but those of tomorrow as well.

To explain basics, all active fishermen in Gloucester received days at sea from the permit bank since the 2007 fishing year. These days at sea likely saved many from being put out of business from the 2-to-1 counting system used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That was exactly what the permit bank set out to do for fishermen: save our port from another round of federal regulations that seemed to target Gloucester fishermen.

And what has the permit bank gotten for a thank you from our community newspaper's blogging regulars for bringing this miracle to Gloucester?

Read the complete letter in The Gloucester Times