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Sorry for the late reply... been out for the weekend. I should amend my comment... I'm more familiar with the fishing practices up in the GoM, and down in SNE hi-grading definitely can be an issue, especially when it comes to the jumbo fluke fishery. Up here we don't run into it as much when targeting groundfish.
And I know next to nothing about how catch shares would affect rec fishermen- I would definitely defer to MM on that one, he seems to have much more info on the subject.
I suppose I'm glad to hear that the amendment passed, after doing a little more research on the subject. I'm all in favor of the current sector management system, which incorporates many aspects of a catch share system, but like I said it's sad to see so many of the smaller boats hurting right now. Some are doing well, but it's inevitable that our commercial fleet will decrease significantly over the next five years. Hopefully this will provide better observer coverage, a higher standard of scientific data, and allow for management to make more informed decisions on how to best balance protecting our resource with protecting the livelihoods of those that make a living on the water.
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