Fishermen who seek shelter during storms penalized!

[Persepone]

Please help the fishermen. The boat owners keep the boats out during storms and the fishermen die because of a really stupid law that penalizes fishing boats that seek shelter during winter storms.

Please contact your representatives. The laws can ONLY be changed by Congress! These are federal fishing laws! Also it would probably help to contact NOAA and tell them you support changes in fishing laws that would remove the penalty from fishermen who seek shelter in bad weather. They administer the laws.

This may not belong under Winter Weather--but here in New England, it is the winter weather that kills the fishermen because if they come in and seek shelter from the storms, they are not allowed to go out again to fill their quota. So I apologize if it is not supposed to be under "winter weather."

The link is at http://www.capecodtoday.com and also at http://www.mainetoday.com.

Here's the story (italics mine):

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Complicated and lengthy federal fishing rules need to be overhauled to ensure safety and profit, the government´s top fishing regulator told Massachusetts fishermen on Monday.
"My goal for the U.S. fishing industry is to see that it operates more like a business and gets away from micromanagement," said William Hogarth, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration´s National Marine Fisheries Service.
"Fishing is a tough business and a hazardous business. We need to continue to try to work to let fishermen have more of a say," Hogarth told members of the New Bedford Seafood Task Force during a meeting at the New Bedford Public Library.
The meeting was organized after the sinking of the Northern Edge on Dec. 20. The 75-foot scalloper sank 45 miles southeast of Nantucket in heavy seas, claiming the lives of five fishermen. There was one survivor.
Scallopers hoped the sinking would force a change in rules that penalize boats from seeking shelter during storms. Due to restrictive regulations, the Fisheries Service was unable to take immediate action to lift penalties placed on scallop boats that stopped fishing trips to seek shelter from the blizzard earlier this month, Hogarth said.
Hogarth listened patiently as fishermen aired complaints about current management practices. Regulations that limit flexibility during winter fishing trips have endangered fishermen by making captains choose between economic gain and the safety of their crews, they said.
"We need to bring common sense back into management," said Richard Canastra, co-owner of the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction.
Rodney Avila, a member of the New England Fishery Management Council, said regulators must communicate better with fishermen, especially when they are at sea.
The government needs to look at other ways to manage fisheries, such as community-based management programs or individual fishing quotas, Hogarth told the editorial board of The Standard-Times of New Bedford later on Monday.
"Fishing regulations are so hard to understand," he said. "We want to change them to make it more like a business." Changes can only be made by Congress, he said.
Under an individual fishing quotas system, each fisherman would receive a share of the total allowable catch for cod, haddock or other species. Fishermen could choose when and where to fish as long as they stayed within their individual quota. That would give fishermen more flexibility and allow them to get better prices for fish, Hogarth said.
Fishermen have opposed quotas on the grounds that they would lead to consolidation of the industry as large fishing corporations bought up quotas from smaller boats.
"The Bush administration is big on IFQs," Hogarth said. "We feel the best avenue would be to explore the idea with fishermen input instead of pushing it down their throat."
The two-hour meeting was moderated by Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr., and attended by members of the fishing industry, federal and state regulators and representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and Sens. John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy.