Under a management scheme who’s largest problem is eccessive consolidation the ‘government’ has decided that a $100 million buyout is the answer?  Haven’t they realized that the buyout does not work?  They’ve tried it already.  And subsidizing the surviving fishermen seems criminal based on sector management’s performance thus far…the surviving fisherman will and are just fine.  I’m pretty sure that they’ve replaced their life rings with anvils.

That’s the mighty Ashley and Anthony at the 11 and 25 second marks.  I’m glad they didn’t film me yesterday when I crashed into the dock.

As I am working towards the purchase of my first commercial boat I have been watching my opportunities to diversify disappear.  Jane Lubchenko has done her damage, and all of the folks that jumped on the sector bandwagon are trying to make it work by any means possible rather than concede failure.  And believe it or not, one of the big fat fucking pigs on the council actually suggested last week that the council not only open up all closed areas but get rid of any size limits that are now enforced on groundfish.  That’s right, just keep everything from everywhere so my ten boats can finish the job and be done with it.  Did I mention that he was on the New England Fisheries Management Council?  Oh yeah, I did mention that he was on the council.  The New England Fisheries Management Council.

Anyway, it looks like Gulf of Maine cod and haddock will be faced with allocation cuts that will make them virtually un-fishable.  Cod will most likely become a by-catch fishery.  The ‘folks’ that have been pushing for the Stellwagon Bank to be closed really have their foot in the door now.  I’ve also noticed that with no numbers to flex that NMFS has not been reporting on how well the fishermen are doing this year.  Last year they could bend the truth and talk about how much was being landed and what those fish sold for to convince the public that fishermen were better off.  Not this year…very quite.

The fact that Jane only took two years to crush a fishery on the mend is moot point: there is only one group to pass the blame too.  All this coupled with $2.50 lobsters makes this the official worst time ever to buy a boat.  I mean, I’m still going to try, because I’m a stubborn asshole and because I just learned an interesting fact about the Somali Pirates…

A United Nations report and several news sources have suggested that piracy off the coast of Somalia is caused in part by illegal fishing.^[6][7] According to the DIW and the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, the dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters by foreign vessels has also severely constrained the ability of local fishermen to earn a living and forced many to turn to piracy instead.^[5][8] 70 percent of the local coastal communities “strongly support the piracy as a form of national defense of the country’s territorial waters”, and the pirates believe they are protecting their fishing grounds and exacting justice and compensation for the marine resources stolen.^[9][10][11] Some reports have suggested that, in the absence of an effective national coast guard following the outbreak of the civil war and the subsequent disintegration of the Armed Forces, local fishermen formed organized groups in order to protect their waters. This motivation is reflected in the names taken on by some of the pirate networks, such as the National Volunteer Coast Guard.^[12

Look out container ships; look out Lng ports; look out whale watch harassment specialists; Anyone know where I can pick up a rocket-launcher?

Looks like I better start shedding a few lbs.  No one is ever scared of the chubby pirate.