23 November 2010

NOAA Puts Some AK Fishing Charter Operators Out of Business

I'm a little late with this story, but
"A new rule intended to reduce the amount of halibut taken from Alaska waters will reduce the charter fishing fleets in some areas of the Gulf of Alaska by more than one third. Beginning in 2011, charter operators will have to display a  permit issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for their clients to legally catch halibut."

So now the fed.gov is telling us who can fish?

"NOAA's preliminary figures estimate that 231 businesses will qualify for a permit in Southeast and 173 will not; in Southcentral, 296 will qualify and 154 will not..."

Yeah, because some faceless bureaucratic panel 4,000 miles away knows what's best for poor little us. Sorry, but this is a load of bull. They have no business interfering in fishing. If the State of  Alaska chooses to regulate and/or impose quotas, that a different matter.

But a federal fishing permit? Yes, others have predicted it would happen. Now it has.

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