MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 8, 2024
Government regulators, who lack deep knowledge of what it takes to catch fish in the Gulf of Maine, reach conclusions about the state of our fish stocks that do not match what fishermen are seeing and what we know from being on the water every day. We know what tactics regulators are using to catch fish for their surveys, and we know they don’t work. This mismatch creates a vicious cycle of new limits on catch, which in turn threaten our businesses. I’m open to the possibility that industry is wrong. So, what do regulators have to lose? Work with us. ~ Jerry Leeman, Harpswell, veteran commercial fishing captain