Commercial fishing rules protested

A flotilla of a couple dozen commercial fishing boats, including at least one from Long Island, gathered near New Bedford, Mass., and headed last week to Martha's Vineyard where President Barack Obama vacationed.

They hoped to bring Obama's attention to their view that federal fishery restrictions are too strict.

Among those headed toward Edgartown was Bonnie Brady, executive director of Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, says a columnist for the New Bedford Standard-Times.

"We need a law in which humans have as many rights as fish do," Brady told the newspaper.

A ten-year fisheries regeneration plan is wrongheaded, she said.

"Ten years may be great for the fish, but for a fishing family it's the difference between a foreclosed home, no money for college, a broken future and destroyed lives," she said.

Brady is outspoken in her view that federal rules are based on inaccurate and outdated fish population data.

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