New whale protection regulations rankle outer Cape Cod fishermen
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Cape Cod Times] By Doug Fraser - July 28, 2014 -
EAST ORLEANS, Outer Cape lobster fishermen say that new federal regulations protecting whales don't just threaten their livelihood, they threaten their lives.
But supporters of the new rules say it's time to cut back on the nearly half-million lobster pot and fishing gear lines that entangle whales at twice the rate allowed under federal laws enacted nearly 20 years ago.
"This is the first (lobster) regulation where you will have wholesale civil disobedience," predicted Orleans lobsterman Steve Smith, while transferring totes of lobsters from his skiff to his pickup truck at Snowshore Landing recently.
"People just aren't going to do it."
State surveys show that at least 30 percent of Massachusetts lobstermen regularly fish alone and many of them set a single lobster pot connected to a single marker buoy.
To Read Full Story Login Below.