November 11, 2015 — QUINCY, Mass. — The Northeast Fisheries Service Center said Wednesday that money to pay for at-sea monitors on fishing vessels is almost depleted, leaving fishermen and companies that own fishing vessels to cover the cost come January.
Bringing along a monitor to watch over the daily catch will cost local fishermen more than $700 a day.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration program started five years ago, but the NOAA and taxpayers picked up the tab at a total cost of $18.4 million since 2010, said Teri Frady, a spokeswoman for the Gloucester-based fisheries service said.
Frady was unable to say how many fishing boats in the state are currently mandated to have a monitor.
Marshfield fisherman Ed Barrett said the regulation affects any fishing boat working under the federal catch share program.
“No one can afford to do this,” said Barrett, who is president of the Massachusetts Bay Ground Fishermen’s Association. “There’s just not that kind of profit margin in this.”
Forced to pay $710 to bring along an approved monitor, some fishermen would actually lose money depending on the day’s catch, he added.
It was unclear Wednesday whether Congress would vote to restore funding to the program.
Read the full story at the Marshfield Mariner