October 2, 2020 — As editor and publisher of National Fisherman, Jerry Fraser says, one principle always came to his mind amid the ceaseless debates over management, gear types, the ocean environment and the future of fisheries.
Equity.
“I don’t say you shouldn’t be careful, and I don’t say fishery management doesn’t work,” says Fraser, 67, who retired in 2019 after nearly a half-century career in fishing and journalism.
“Fishery management shouldn’t be preoccupied with making it easy. It should make it equitable,” says Fraser. “It’s a tough racket. There’s no argument that’s going to satisfy everyone.”
During a stormy new era of enforced consolidation, transferable quotas and catch share systems, Fraser says he looked for the balance of preserving fisheries and fishing communities.
“You can make a lot of economic arguments against keeping small farms,” he says. “If you make a priority of preserving this industry, we would come out in a different place.”
Fraser’s own life took different turns, from a New York City kid to beginner fisherman during summers in Maine, two threads that wound together to form his adult working life.