April 14, 2016 — PROVIDENCE, RI — A forum on the sustainability of the commercial fishing industry revealed significant frustration in a fisherman-heavy crowd and a few suggestions for future changes, but little tangible optimism, Thursday night at Rhode Island College.
“Right now, there are more fish in the Atlantic Ocean than there was 20 or 30 years ago — we are just not allowed to catch them anymore,” said fisherman Mark Phillips, a New York native who has fished out of New Bedford for several decades.
Phillips and New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel, who sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in December over catch monitoring costs, were the two fishermen on the forum’s six-person panel.
They drew, by far, the most applause from the crowd throughout the event, as both reiterated industry-wide complaints about a regulatory environment that fishermen say is choking their viability.
The forum was titled, “Is Commercial Fishing Sustainable?” But Phillips said the real question, in his view, is whether fishermen and fishing communities are sustainable.