A Plymouth fisherman on the verge of bankruptcy is pinning his survival hopes on a last-ditch appeal to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke by five Democratic members of the state's congressional delegation.
A letter, released Wednesday and signed by U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, along with U.S. Reps. Barney Frank, Stephen F. Lynch, William R. Keating and John F. Tierney, asked Locke to intercede directly in the case of Jim Keding, a lifelong commercial fisherman who has received only a fraction of the annual fishing quota he needs to maintain his livelihood.
It has been an exhausting struggle for Keding that has consumed much of his time since it began last spring. He has already been rebuffed by Patricia Kurkul, regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Gloucester, and Eric Schwaab, who heads the NMFS office in Washington, D.C.
"This is my last chance. I've just got my fingers crossed at this point," Keding said Wednesday evening. "I have put the boat up for sale now. I have spent so much money leasing quota that I'm just going backwards."
In April 2008, Keding borrowed $235,000 to buy his boat, the 55-foot dragger Zachary Nicholas, in anticipation of the new catch share system. Based on the vessel's fishing history, he expected to receive an allocation of around 40,000 pounds of fish. Instead he was given only 15,000 because, he was told by NMFS, the catch history prior to November 2004 did not come with the boat. This was a huge shock to Keding.
"When I bought the boat in New Bedford, I bought the history that went with the permit. That was right in the bill of sale. The National Marine Fisheries Service researches it and gives you a three-page document with the boat's history," he said.
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