It’s official. Eleven months from now, the New England fishing industry will be operating under an entirely new regulatory system — still under the thumb of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its National Marine Fisheries Service, yet charged itself with managing and coordinating how many pounds of fish individual fishermen get to land within divided groups called "sectors."
Given the justified cries of foul under the former and current regulatory systems — with NMFS charging fishermen double for each day at sea, and keeping tight clamps on who could fish where and when — you might think the new system would draw wide praise within Gloucester’s and other fishing communities.
But it’s not — and there is good reason for that.
First of all, the continued vendetta carried out by NOAA enforcement officials in their blatant and wrongful attempt to shut down the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction continues to fuel, not bridge, the gap of trust fishermen have for regulators who have a stated goal of driving many of them out of the business.