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Overfishing must end and none of the anti catch share rhetoric is proposing anything but raising quotas and returning us to a state of overfishing. Enough is enough.
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I agree with your comments on overfishing, but all catch shares will do is redistribute the overall catch quota to those larger boats with past historical catch data, effectively eliminating smaller draggers, dayboats, that must fish several species (weather, seasonal dependent) in order to make a living....the big boats (single owner of multi-fleet of boats) will corner whatever quota is set. That is the fear with the present pilot fluke sector plan in RI ....the only advantage of sector catch shares is by-catch mortality is reduced, only if the monitors are aboard; if monitors are not on a sector boat there may be "hi-grading" performed....Catch shares is a real hot topic in the commercial fisheries here in RI, MA.....most commercial people I know feel there is a better way to redistribute quota AND hold the line on overfishing if indeed some of these fish are in real trouble (fluke, sea bass, monkfish, scup); as far as cod, don't know...just hearing about a lot of cod being caught in some of the old haunts off the RI shore to Coxes..