Some fishermen and advocates for the industry voiced concern at a regional summit Monday about upcoming federal regulations they warn could put them out of business, while others suggested the changes were a necessary way to curb overfishing.
Fishermen and elected leaders gathered at the New Bedford Whaling Museum ahead of a scheduled May 1 switch to a "sector" system of fishing. Fishermen in that management system would be allotted a certain amount of species and would then pool their total catches with a group, or sector, and manage the shares among themselves.
Though the system is intended to give fishermen more autonomy, some are concerned the new system could leas to massive consolidation, that the individual allotments would be too paltry for them to survive and that smaller fishing communities would be wiped out by large fishing companies.
Fishermen Prepare For Coming Federal Rules – Food Manufacturing
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