March 21, 2016 — On New Hampshire’s Seacoast, Granite State fishermen tell the tale of an out-of-control federal agency more dangerous than any sea monster.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration severely limits their catch of ground fish, flounder and cod that dwell in the Gulf of Maine. International competitors face fewer rules and supply most U.S. seafood.
Dave Goethel of the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative in Seabrook estimates that NOAA, which manages U.S. fisheries and the president’s climate change agenda, has reduced his catch by 95 percent.
He tells me many of his friends have quit or taken early retirement. Young Granite Staters interested in maritime careers no longer consider our state’s 400-year-old tradition.
What seaman nowadays would brave such treacherous regulatory waters?
On March 1, NOAA implemented fees around New England that will hit New Hampshire fishermen, mostly small boat operators, hardest. Only a few remain on the United States’ shortest coastline.
In her explanation to me, the agency’s chief administrator, Kathryn Sullivan, estimates that new fees for at-sea monitors could amount to $710 per day.