A major consumer advocacy group has released a new study of fishery job losses caused by the regulatory program being pushed by the Obama administration and its National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the organization is calling for a halt to any expansion of any catch share programs.
Food & Water Watch last week released its global research report showing a common pattern of job loss to consolidation and profiteering through catch share management regimens, and leaders called on Congress to prevent further expansions of the regulatory scheme, which came with controversy to Gloucester and the New England groundfishery last year.
Food & Water Watch affirms that, five months into the catch share experience in the New England groundfishery, barely 10 percent of the boats accounted for 61 percent of the fishing revenue.
"Catch shares only increase profits for some fishermen by cutting hundreds out of the fishery entirely," according to the executive summary of the report, titled "Fish, Inc."
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.