The state’s fishing industry lost an important ally with the death of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy in August. But commercial fishermen would find a sympathetic audience with at least one of the politicians campaigning to fill Kennedy’s seat.
Martha Coakley doesn’t deal much with fishing in her current role as the state’s attorney general. But when she met today with Patriot Ledger editors, she expressed some frustration with the overly aggressive approach that the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration has taken with enforcing federal fishing rules.
The truth is, though, that the substantive relief for the industry would need to happen in Congress. That’s where U.S. Rep. Barney Frank has been trying unsuccessfully to institute more reasonable timetables for the rebuilding of depleted groundfish stocks. Without a change in federal law, the noose around the New England fishing industry will probably continue to tighten for the foreseeable future.