Fishing News
Tierney says he'll push to ease new fishing rules
By Barbara Taormina
"Once the industry is on ice, you have a better chance of reviving Ted Williams."
-- Northeast Seafood Coalition attorney Stephen Ouellette
Members of local fishing industry groups told U.S. Rep. John Tierney yesterday that Gloucester's inshore fishing fleet will not survive through next summer if a new slate of rules for groundfishing is approved.
Fishermen and waterfront advocates said that fishermen, who are scraping by under this year's regulations, will never be able to weather the proposed rules, which would cut fishing days in half and close most of the fishing grounds off the coast of Massachusetts.
Members of the group said the regulations will hurt all New England fishermen, but the consequences for Gloucester will be the most severe.
"The intent of the rules is to put a portion of the fleet on ice until stocks rebound," Northeast Seafood Coalition attorney Stephen Ouellette told Tierney. "But once the industry is on ice, you have a better chance of reviving Ted Williams."
Tierney, who was in town making a round of visits to local groups and organizations, met with about 25 members of the Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership and the Northeast Seafood Coalition at the Fishermen's Partnership office on the Jodrey State Fish Pier.
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