The Lego figure in the above picture is that of a Santa Claus with a helpless shark in his back sack. Claus’ protest sign reads, “They know you’ve been fishing” in reference to the United States government’s, more specifically the Department of Commerce, constant eyes on and regulations over various regional fishermen and their fleets. An industry worth more than $30 billion a year in the United States alone, and responsible for the livelihood and employment of over 65,000 American fishermen, it is federal policies that either thrive a fishing fleet or sink it (U.S. Department of Commerce). The fight for a less federal regulatory system comes more specifically from the New England region fishermen as they saw reductions to their catch in May 2013.
In late January 2013, the U.S. Department of Commerce agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) approved of a 77% cod fish catch reduction that became affective the following May for New England fisheries (New England Fishery Management Council). As the main law enforcement agency in the DOC, NOAA, along with its division agency, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), forms and mandates regulations and policies governing the fishing industry in the entire nation, and is responsible for the management and protection of the industry, marine habitats, and execution of fishing practices (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The New England Fishery Management Council published in its February 2013 report, just days after the federal regulation was approved and passed, that “the sobering news about the cod stocks was the main event for the Council members as well as stakeholders” – here, stakeholders include the fishermen themselves, their families, and fellow fishermen in bordering regions (New England Fishery Management Council).
In protest against this federal reduction on a fish species that the fishermen rely heavily on and what the fishing business thrives from in New England fisheries, 173 fishermen signed a letter to Congress asking to turn the tables around before the new policy would start its affects in May. The fishermen call the regulation as causing a “simply unbelievable” situation and a disaster (Associated Press). Despite following government regulations and restrictions on fishing zones that the fishermen from Connecticut to Maine have followed for more than a decade, they now believe their government has failed them by setting more limits to not only the fish catch but also to their businesses. The letter continues with “We lived within their quotas, but it is now our businesses, our families and our communities that will be paying the price” and ends with, “For many of us, this is probably our last shot at survival” (Associated Press). Others cry out for a change in the administration policymaking strategy to first consider the people involved in the New England fishing industry and the impacts such large-scale government regulations will have on their employment, their fleet – whether it will go out of business and forced to be sold – and their families. The 173 fishermen from the region added the significance of the ripple effect federal regulations have on small fishing communities that eventually come to influence economics and livelihood of an entire region.
Besides the cod catch reduction regulation set forth in New England fisheries, the government law, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA) of 1996 (amended 2006), sets forth the definition of such management over the nation’s fisheries, fishing methods for each fleet and each region, and lists restrictions on the entire fishing industry. Looking closely at some of its sections, Section 2: Findings, Purposes, and Policy states that “commercial and recreational fishing constitutes a major source of employment and contributes significantly to the economy” of the specific fishing region as well as the entire nation (National Marine Fisheries Service). These exact words are what New England fishermen are angered by, that a government act on the grandest scale possible is limiting local-level fisheries and “destroying” the successes of the fishermen there. In their letter to Congress in February 2013, they hint at protesting against a federal regulatory system that dictates the nation’s fisheries, and instead are in favor of small scale, local regulations that take into consideration, unlike Congress, the local people involved in the business that eventually benefits the nation economically. Without such local-level fishery management councils making impactful decisions on unwanted catch reductions, the fleets and employment of the New England fishermen will, as they say, be crippled in the coming months and years (National Marine Fisheries Service).
The New England fishermen’s protests against government regulations over regional fishing businesses are an example of the effects of a top-down government system. The Lego Santa Claus represents either a nice or naughty government that is either helping fishermen thrive from their catches or sinking their fleet and the business in a sudden unemployment trend.
Notes
1. U.S. Department of Commerce: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA Economic Statistics 2006. Accessed October 2013. http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/pdf/economic-statistics-may2006.pdf. 30.
2. New England Fishery Management Council. Council Report February 2013. Accessed October 2013. http://www.nefmc.org/actions/council_reports/council-report-feb13.pdf. 2.
3. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. About National Marine Fisheries Service. Accessed October 2013. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aboutus/aboutus.html
4. Quoted in New England Fishery Management Council, Council Report February 2013. 2.
5. Associated Press, FoxNews.com. New England fishermen protest federal regulations in letter to Congress. Accessed October 2013. Published February 20, 2013. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/20/new-england-fishermen-plead-for-govt-help/.
6. Ibid.
7. National Marine Fisheries Service. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Accessed October 2013. Published December 19, 1996. http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/magact/mag1.html#s2.
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