In the fall, Gov. Deval Patrick called on Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to grant an emergency increase in catch limits for some groundfish species to help struggling fishermen.

Both the state and fishermen are waiting for the federal government to act on Patrick's recommendations, said Bob Vanasse, the executive director of the industry advocacy group Saving Seafood.

"It's definitely a point of irritation," said Vanasse. "Everybody was hoping this would be worked out weeks ago."

Locke said in October that the Magnuson-Stevens Act gives him the authority to issue emergency regulations to raise catch limits. Since then, he has elected not to use such authority.

Vanasse is not the only one who is frustrated.

"It's reached the point where I don't think you'll ever get the genie back in the bottle," said Jim Kendall of New Bedford Seafood Consulting. "That's what you always hear — bureaucratic delays and miscues. Whom do you blame, a bureaucrat? It's nameless and harmless."

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