by David Pierce<\/b><\/p>\n
Disaster aid is the talk of the waterfront and within the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), too.\u00a0 And why wouldn\u2019t it be?\u00a0 Many groundfish fishermen have been hit hard by very low groundfish catch limits, individual allocations small enough to fill a teacup, and just a plain lack of fish.<\/p>\n
Lack of fish continues to be especially troubling because it relates to assessments and their accuracy with many fishermen claiming the lack is due to changed availability, not abundance.\u00a0 Gulf of Maine cod, for example, appears to have adopted an Arnold Schwarzenegger attitude of \u201cI\u2019ll be back.\u201d\u00a0 I wonder when.<\/p>\n
![\"pierce-gc-sh\"](\"https:\/\/fish-news.com\/cfn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/pierce-gc-sh.jpg\")
Reluctantly and with great heartache, a lot of fishermen are looking for a way out or having to accept becoming \u201carmchair\u201d fishermen, leasing out their individual allocations to active fishermen desperately seeking more fish at reasonable prices.<\/p>\n
Who would have believed that New England\u2019s hunters of the sea would be forced to hunt the \u201cweb\u201d like frustrated spiders waiting for a lucky catch or break.<\/p>\n
The current need to acquire quota, sometimes \u201chat in hand,\u201d before going to sea is a far cry from the days when independent fishermen relied solely on their skill to find fish and pay expenses.\u00a0 Now, expenses mount before fishermen even leave the dock.\u00a0 So does resentment since future catches must…<\/p>\n
Read online\u00a0immediately and download for future reference.<\/p>\n [add_to_cart=4704]<\/p>\n by David Pierce Disaster aid is the talk of the waterfront and within the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), too.\u00a0 And why wouldn\u2019t it be?\u00a0 Many groundfish fishermen have been hit hard by very low groundfish catch limits, individual allocations small enough to fill a teacup, and just a plain lack of fish. Lack … <\/p>\n![\"CFN_5_14cover\"](\"https:\/\/fish-news.com\/cfn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/CFN_5_14cover-243x300.jpg\")
Read the rest and much, much more in the May issue of Commercial Fisheries News.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"