November 17, 2023 — Gloucester Capt. Salvatore “Sam” Novello just wants to fish.
Novello, who has fished the waters off Gloucester for most of his life, is saying while he can fish, some foreign-born fishermen cannot.
A member of the Gloucester Fisheries Commission, Novello said this week the U.S. Coast Guard has recently begun to strictly enforce a rule that limits the number of immigrants who are allowed to fish.
The measure, the 75-25 rule, requires that 75% of those crews fishing must be American while only 25% can be foreign. In other words, for every four fishermen, three must be native born and only one can hail from another country.