Rolled out just a week ago today, the new system was vilified Friday in a pair of emergency meetings — one in Gloucester, the other in New Bedford, co-capitals of the New England fishing industry.
Angry fishermen and shoreside business operators described a chaotic introduction to the Obama administration's new regulatory scheme, with dysfunctional communications technology leaving boats uncertain whether they could leave port or unload, other boats held back from fishing to avoid exceeding allocations of specific species, jobs lost and fractional landings endangering supply systems.
A fisherman who lives across the street from Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk was laid off.
During the three years of government planning and development to create the catch share system — catching rights with hard limits and deterrent policies against excesses — most of the industry anticipated a debacle. But there were some who, without embracing the concept as promoted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Defense Fund, saw catch shares as inevitable and worth a try.
Any hints of interest or hope in the system were gone Friday.
"These are evil, evil, evil people," said Richard Burgess, who owns four boats and leads the gillnet sector, a guild-like business cooperative for the 40 boats that fish with fixed gear out of Gloucester.
Richie Canastra, co-owner of the New Bedford-based Whaling City Seafood Display Auction, said he heard not a peep of support for the government system in the two-hour emergency meeting called Friday afternoon by New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang.
"Gloucester and New Bedford are walking side by side on this one," said Canastra.
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.