Hundreds of commercial fishermen are expected to protest fishing regulations Friday, October 30, in Gloucester during a rally outside the regional office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service.
Rally organizers are seeking to achieve four goals: more flexibility in rebuilding timelines for overfished stocks, better management and greater professionalism from NOAA Fisheries, an independent economic analysis of the projected impacts of fisheries regulations prior to enactment, and the offset of economic impacts through credit availability and boat buyback programs.
"We don’t object to ending overfishing within two years — no one cares more about the health of the fisheries than fishermen," rally organizer Amanda Odlin, a boat owner from Maine, said in a press release. "We object to the government placing artificial deadlines on nature."