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Subscribe to RSSConnecticut’s governor has called for a disaster declaration for fishermen who catch groundfish such as cod and haddock, but some in the industry dismissed the chance of “free money” and complained about government-imposed quotas, NBCConnecticut.com reported.
The state says stocks of cod, haddock, and flounder have shrunk, and those that rely on those cold water fish for survival are in jeopardy.
Mike Gambardella, who distributes fish throughout the Northeast from a pier in Stonington, said the fishermen were upset because the government puts quotas on how many fish they can catch.
“We're not interested in free money. We want to work and earn our own money,” Gambardella said.
Read more from NBCConnecticut.com
But Dave Simpson, of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said there just weren’t enough groundfish left in the water.
“In some cases, that may be related to climate change; global warming for winter flounder in particular,” Simpson said.
Governor Daniel Malloy has joined other New England governors in asking the Federal Commerce Secretary for a groundfish disaster declaration.
And, if Congress approves it, tens of millions of dollars could be sent to the region, some of it coming to Connecticut.
“Our small state has taken actually a disproportionately large cut probably because there is a greater effect of climate change,” said Simpson.
But it's not just those that catch groundfish that are affected. As fisheries go after more abundant fish like sea bass and summer flounder, stocks of those fish will be depleted as well.
“There's concern among those in those fisheries that it's going to make their lives more difficult and be splitting the same dollars among a greater number of fishermen,” warned Simpson.
Gambardella said the government could hold onto its money, if it lifted regulations and allowed him to keep what he catches.
“There's plenty of fish out there. We're throwing them overboard… We don't need free money. We need the quota to be up to make us go catch fish,” said Gambardella.
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There is no free money. You will pay for free money so how is it free?
Once again, the great American government has the cure for the alleged ills of the fishermen of the NE. Our government, with its programed scientists are still pushing the "global warming" envelope with regard to this issue. You tell me. Who should know more about "catches" than those who have been doing this generation after generation? This is typical government/union type mentality. It's like the guy in the corner store that won't sell a customer the last four bags of potato chips, because there won't be any left for the next customer! The consumer is the next customer and there is no other "next customer" to be concerned about. These guys know the seas and their jobs. The government needs to keep their collective asses out of "supply and demand" scenarios in the fishing industry. If our government thinks they need flex their muscle, let's have them impose their legislative powers, "agreeing to disagree" and get something done in our grid-locked Capitol. Government...the more you have, the less you live free....It appears however, as though at least one half of our country's citizens view the government as the only solution for all their social and economic needs. This was not the intent of our founding fathers. Sad, very, very sad how this country has digressed from its inception as a free standing form of representative government and peoples working together toward a common cause, into a dependent, debt-ridden welfare state. We the people have made it so.
Typically when fish stocks collapse, there is an inflection point that the scientists will notice that generations of fishermen will not, and that comes when the catch is made up almost entirely of individuals that have not reached sexual maturity and spawned at least once. Say the average size of winter flounder catch has been in the 18- to 24-inch range for decades, but in a relatively short period of 3 or 4 years, increased demand increases the catch, and the average changes to 16- to 20-inch fish. Science can establish that because sexual maturity for winter flounder females occurs in the 20- to 22-inch range, the population is therefore doomed to extinction well before extinction occurs, and early enough that a total ban can save that population. The fishermen will not note any reduction in their catch because the population numbers temporarily expand to keep up with the food supply niche predated by that species, so fishermen return to port with the same number of pounds of winter flounder. But you cannot solve biological problems with political solutions.
The Founding Fathers inhabited an America in which only about 22 million humans lived. Half of those were aborigines, scattered more or less evenly across the continent. The other half, the half for which a government had to be designed, all lived within 150 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. Shortly thereafter, someone coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny," and anyone who sought economic opportunity only had to move west and displace the native populations. So up until about the 1930's, it made sense to stick pretty rigidly to the original blueprint. At that point, we began to run out of real estate. True, there were still huge tracts of the West that were unoccupied, but getting water was a problem we still struggle with today.
"Government" is the term for that social aspect of civilization through which we devise ways to keep our neighbors from urinating in our drinking water supply, to put it bluntly. Its size is going to be directly proportional to our population density. As we approach the densities of the Europe where most of us originated, our government is going to come to resemble European models, both as to size and to tax rates. I saw an interview prior to the Tampa convention in which the Republican National Chairman told PBS economic correspondent Paul Solman that "in 1890, this country had no income tax at all, and was able to fund its operations entirely on a few selected excise and inheritance taxes." I'd point out that in 1890, this country had no Social Security, no Medicare, no public welfare, no food stamps, no civil rights legislation, no industrial safety laws, no universal education, and no information technology--if you were poor, you starved, if you got sick you died, and if your skin was dark, you had a 27 times greater chance of being lynched than of becoming a sucessful small businessman. If you would like to see us head back toward 1890 rather than forward to 2013 (which is where we are compelled by circumstance to go) you can expect no help from me. Time only goes the one way.
I have been in Fish & Wildlife for many, many years, in fisheries. Our oceans have been over 80% exploited , more and more fishing rigs and the population keeps going down. Then there is the waste, fisherman go out and target a specific species in their business yet they many and I mean a lot catch other species, so those get sorted out on the deck and thrown back, most of the time....dead. So in short we are losing a lot more. Sharks, Dolphins, Marlins...etc get killed on a constant basis, so this is why our oceans are getting fished out.
This is not an opinion or myth, it is fact. Restrictive regulations are never going to be enough.
This is why Aquaculture is booming. And the U.S. is way behind on that. Asian countries are smoking us on their production and that is why we have such large imports. We do beat many countries on freshwater aquaculture like Trout and Black Bass.
What makes you sick is like where I live in Louisiana, this is the #1 producer of Crawfish, and 90% stays in the State, very little goes out, it simply doe snot get ordered. But yet I can go into Wal-Mart and they will sell Crawfish...and on the package...."A Product of China". Mississippi is the #1 producer of Catfish in the U.S.......yet large chain grocers sell it....with the label....."A Product of China".
If the government wants to spend money, don't give it to fisherman for free, put it into aquaculture for the U.S.
One of the Biggest Colleges for AquaCulture is in KY, and it is amazing how many foreign students are learning there to go back to their respective countries to raise fish for profit.
The fishermen are forced by regulation to throw back catch. It could be a 15 foot marlin, dead, but NO ONE will be able to buy it because the fisherman can't sell it so it becomes trash and thrown overboard.
Sooo.....if these people catch so many fish that the population is too low....and now can't get as much money because they overfished...your going to give them free "taxpayer" money only because they can't catch as many fish? if i was other taxpayers i would sue you for doing that.
For some balance to the video touted above several times search up allen3000. He's a deckhand and he'll tell you what he see's everyday he fishes.
...I believe him.
I hate to bring this up but the US Government is allowing poaching of our resources by foreign governments. Like the Mexicans who were caught poaching fish in US territory told the Coast guard,"There are no more fish left in our waters."
They were turned loose. Guess what would have happened to an American citizen caught illegally fishing?????
Fish farms, fish farms, fish farms...domestic, aquatic-agriculture is the answer. Tell the government to stay is Washington and do what they do best......nothing!
mankind "chooses" to breed like rabbits. we place huge demand on resorces and yet no one wants to cut back on human population. do you think we would be over fishing the oceans if there were only 2 billion people on the planet??? no, there would be plenty. why is reduceing the world population by half not the biggest topic in front of us? people want what they want, and are unwilling to govern there own population. (and we say we are the smartest creatures on the planet, lol) even wolves can and do govern there own populations. untill all of you are willing to do that this is all just water cyrcling the drain. oceans will get fished out. wars will be fought over the last bit. (i dont care, i just want another babby!!!!) idiots.
" and yet no one wants to cut back on human population."
You want to be first in line for the cut back?
Fix it man,..... Yes, there in a nut shell is the problem, man, the super predator is very efficient at controlling every population but his own. Little does he realize Earth is of a specific size, with a limited amount of life sustaining resources.....It is not so much man is blatantly destroying this planet, he is only taking what he thinks he needs to fill the demands without regard to available supply
“This is a big deal for our fishermen and the entire industry because it paves the way for the financial assistance that will determine whether they can stay open for business,” Kerry said in a statement. “This is exactly what we needed to strengthen our hand as we continue to go after the funding and I'm working with the New England Delegation to obtain $100 million in economic disaster assistance. Our fishermen are the farmers of the sea and today our fishermen are facing exactly what farmers in the Midwest are facing - a drought. Instead of a lack of rain, our fishermen are facing a lack of fish. Our fishermen and fishing communities did not cause this drought, but they need our help to get through it."
Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) said that while the aid is needed there is no guarantee how much Congress will include for Northeast fisheries. “When you have a declaration it's not a given that you'll get money,” he said.
“It's long overdue,” Tarr told the News Service. “It's actually frustrating that it took this long.”
The problem is global warming--and clinmate changes to the environment--God controlls that-
Wait- how many of you GOPers going to Blame Obama for Global warming?
This is all caused by global warming... which isn't actually happeneing but if it was that would be a likely suspect in the dwindling fish population.
You people do realize there are fishing boats that are guided by an airplane to find schools before sending their fleet out, right? That is overfishing, dragging nets and dumping them onto the deck does indeed kill too many fish. A fisherman who sets his nets and fishes them the next day has very few dead fish and can throw bycatch back before it hits the floor usually. Believe it or not there are some responsible fishermen who want to conserve the resource, not only for their livelihood, but most enjoy eating seafood as well. Unfortuately these are the people who will be forced out of business first.
As I look at the ills in our country, it seems big corporation anything is the downfall. Whether it be banks, farms, stores,restaurants,etc. The little guy who knows his livelihood is dependent on how he acts today will be our future.
You're a brainless git,you overfish the stocks,you cause the disaster and you expect the feds to bail your retarded arse out? Get real!
When you force upon a declining white race (whites are not having enough babies to replace themselves), massive numbers of non-whites, to share the same homeland/living space, the end result is the elimination of the declining white race. Its inevitable (what will change?)
How is this not white genocide?
“Genocide involves the attempt to achieve the disappearance of a group by whatever means. It does not have to be violent, it could be a combination of policies that would lead to a certain group dying out.” Fraser-PM Australia ‘75-83
M Fraser-PM of Australia 1975-83
Anti-racist is a codeword for anti-white
How is this not genocide?
Hydro power is still the cleanest, cheapest, safest, most reliable and practical way to provide energy for North America. We need to replace all the 19th and early 20th century designed dam hydro turbines with dam-less free flow Gorlov type helical turbines in major rivers and the Gulf of Mexico. A few hundred of these eco-system friendly turbines could easily power North America.
I have spent over 30 years earning my income fishing. The larger corporations which run things have forced me out of fishing. Compare these corporations to Irving or BP. They sit on the fishing counsel seats and make the rules with the scientists and government.NOBODY BAILED ME OUT. They simply changed the rules to force me to QUIT. So now that the priviledged few are left the government wants to hand them all FREE TAX DOLLARS, for making millions of dollars by over fishing the resources. I suggest the government feed them beans so they can pass some gas and send them down the same road I took. Looking for work elsewhere.
I'm 66 years old and when I was a teenager we were taught that without restrictions fishing as a career was done.
Well they never put in the restrictions in the 1960's and now everyone is whining about the plight of the fishermen.
Reminds of the case of the kid who murdered his parents and wanted mercy because he was an orphan.
George and Texan, no where in my post did you read I expect tax payers to bail out my friends. Most have found other work, but continue to keep their licenses and equipment hoping some day things will get better. And I don't know any local fisherman who sit on any boards. Our hotel and restaurants make money from anglers. These fish are protected from watermen due to tags needed to sell them. These fish eat the small fish and crabs before maturity, and they eat alot.
I know of three watermen that took college students aboard to measure their fish and log the by catch,etc. Without compensation, the expectations that the college students,(Who were being paid) could help identify the problems and help correct it before it was too late. Don't think any waterman I know personally expects the government to pay them for no work. They are not that kind of people, they play by the rules.
I agree with earlier posts that states the license owner should be required to be on board when the boat is out, and two violations of overcatch or undersize and you are out for life. Just those two things would make a big difference. This should go for anglers also.
Oh George,millions of dollars, really? A good year would be about thirtyfive thousand, not sure if it was before or after expenses. Either way, it's way off of millions over a lifetime.
Sure no problem, we can borrow or electronically create the money aka the modern printing press to give these fisherman money.
<a href="" title="Magic" name="Magic"><img src="" alt="Magic" title="Magic" /><br>Magic</a>
Geez what a surprise, the fisheries are becoming depleted. Over population and years of over fishing to meet the demand. I am surprised it has lasted this long. It isn't just Conn. that has a problem it it the whole world.
Geez, the fisheries are being depleted what a surprise. Over population and over fishing to meet the demand. Conn. isn't the only place with this problem the whole world has this problem. People have been warning about this happening for over 50 years, but, people turned deaf ears to the warnings. Now, when the results are being felt for ignoring the warning, they start whining.
I'm a democrat and social liberal.....and I hold a commercial fishing permit. Thank NOAA head Dr. Jane Lubchenco for this. The imposition of her "catch share" policy to save the groundfish is an abject failure merely designed to reduce the fleet of independent small fisherman. Catch shares was her baby when she was head of the EDF..a supposed cure all for decades of fisheries mis-management. Fisherman were required to join a "sector" group of be placed in the "common pool".... where small quotas make it virtually impossible for independent fisherman to survive. There was no quota reduction , merely a redistribution of the quota to industrial fishing operations who could afford to join a sector and buy a big share of the quota. . Think "small family farm vs. agrig-business" and you'll get a better picture of this. NOAA actually had one of it's people speaking to the Miliken Foundation on what a great investment sectors would be... with enormous financial gains for those investors....earned off the work of those who wear grundens and slickers and put their life on the line. Reduced rules for the sectors...they dragged Stellwagen Bank all spring while it was off limits to everyone else...result..no groundfish for recreational or small commercial fisherman. Tell me how redistribution of a "fixed" quota and elimination of off limits areas and seasonal closure areas could possibly help fisheries stocks? Our NE congressmen and women are correct....her head should roll for this. If it wasn't for the looneys who have hijacked the Repub. party I would consider voting Repub. for the first time in my 61 years.
I found this a rather strange article just because there is no question re overfishing of cod/haddock;its like debating whether the earth is flat
What does the government want? Complete dependence? As some of the comments I read, it's getting completely ridiculous.Or maybe the fishermen who want the handout do not want to work?