U.S. Sen. Scott Brown was talking small business and commerce Friday, fitting for a luncheon that was hosted by the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce and drew some 180 local business and community leaders to The Gloucester House on the city's harborfront. Touting initiatives from his own so-called FISH Act to revisions in the 1099 tax code, the estate tax and a medical equipment tax, Brown said he identified with small-business owners and their needs amid the lingering recession.
Brown, who visited Cape Pond Ice and the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction on a trip to Gloucester after filing his FISH Act reform measure last month, noted that some of the government wrongs foisted on Gloucester and America's fishermen have stemmed from and endless changing of limits and catch management rules, in some cases after fishermen have invested thousands of dollars.
The FISH Act — for Fishery Impact Statement Honesty — would, among other things, revise the Magnuson-Stevens Act and force the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to undertake annual reviews of the impact of federal regulations on the industry and on fishing communities.
Brown noted Friday that the measure will go forward just as Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who refused to declare a fishing-related economic emergency, is being nominated by President Obama to become ambassador to China.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.