New Bedford fisherman forced to give up 800-pound tuna

[sailingaway]

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111121/NEWS/111129971/-1/NEWS01

[Miss Annie]

Fishing shows are my favorite thing ever to watch! Those tuna go for a MINT! That is not fair and the fisherman probably really needed that fish!

[youngbuck]

The government knows best. Zero tolerance for breaking their rules, laws, mandates, policies and will.

[Anti Federalist]

I know the F/V Athena and Rafeal, that's a real shame, but something that happens all the time.

A friend of mine on the Cape told me about his neighbor that was looking at jail time for freeing a blue whale from entangled fishing gear.

The government spy that he is required by law to carry on the boat with him, turned him in.

That's what you get for going by "the book", when the book is so big and contradictory there is no way any normal person could decipher it, let alone comply with it.

It was my ten years of commercial fishing as a teenager and young man that really opened my eyes to what was going to happen.

Commercial fishermen were, and still are, treated like a bunch of lab rats.

I've since come to learn that the system's modus operandi is to beta test new control techniques on small, unrepresented groups of people with no political power.

That way nobody makes a fuss, and then they roll it out for the general public.

[sailingaway]

Yeah, I thought of you, AF, when I saw this.

[Kylie]

I have a buddy who is a fisherman. He decided to take a break from that very dangerous job and do something a little less risky.

He started cutting down those big ass trees in Oregon. :)

I know he is always pissed at the government for some new bullshit they've pulled...wonder if he knows about this story. I could see him telling the state to get fucked and keeping his catch, which is what every red-blooded American should do. You don't feed my family, so fuck off.

[Anti Federalist]

Yeah, I thought of you, AF, when I saw this.

Thanks for posting that, even if it did spike my blood pressure.

I won't get into all the nuts and bolts of it, but one of the reasons why commercial fishing is so dangerous is because of regulations.

Good men, that I knew personally, died as a direct result.

My real hatred of government started right then.

[BattleFlag1776]

No charges have yet been filed in connection with the catch, but a written warning is anticipated, according to Chris*tine Patrick, a public affairs specialist with NOAA who said the fish has been forfeited and will be sold on consignment overseas. Proceeds from the sale of the fish will be held in an account pending final reso*lution of the case, NOAA said.

As someone who grew up in and around the commercial fishing industry on the Gulf, this bit about NOAA selling the fish pisses me off the most. You know damn good and well that the Japanese are going to low ball the price and NOAA, not knowing good from bad, will take it. They would be better served letting Capt. Rafael broker the deal and escrow the funds if they want to be fair. Not that any of this is "fair" at all.

[TomtheTinker]

Between us...thats why you don't do things by the "books".

[Anti Federalist]

As someone who grew up in and around the commercial fishing industry on the Gulf, this bit about NOAA selling the fish pisses me off the most. You know damn good and well that the Japanese are going to low ball the price and NOAA, not knowing good from bad, will take it. They would be better served letting Capt. Rafael broker the deal and escrow the funds if they want to be fair. Not that any of this is "fair" at all.

I'll reckon not single one them know how to care for the carcass properly and the whole fucking thing rots in some cooler somewhere.

[Anti Federalist]

Between us...thats why you don't do things by the "books".

Unfortunately, in the surveillance society, non-compliance is not an option any longer.

I'll wager good money that the FV Apollo had a federal zampolit on board when they caught that fish.

[KCIndy]

I'll reckon not single one them know how to care for the carcass properly and the whole fucking thing rots in some cooler somewhere.

Which will, in turn, result in a sh*tload of new regulations and manufacturing requirements for the makers of the cooler - because it's obviously their fault that the fish went bad. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[XNavyNuke]

NOAA LEO's seem to have a torrid history with asset forfeiture.

May 2011: Actions ring hollow for many (http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1376631719/Actions-ring-hollow-for-many)


Swartwood's stark conclusion exemplifies a pattern discerned by Inspector General Todd Zinser in a report last year, that NOAA law enforcement accumulated nearly $100 million in fines in an Asset Forfeiture Fund that was then used to purchase excessive numbers of vehicles — more than the agency had agents — a luxury undercover boat and overseas travel to exotic locations.

"They required him to pay $430,000 and sell his vessel and permits, and to satisfy debts, he had to sell the family home his wife's family had had since the 1600s, and leave New Bedford (for Florida) when they put him out of business," Lafreniere said, "so it hardly seems like vindication,"

and

September 2010: NOAA union fighting reform of law enforcement (http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x180469070/NOAA-union-fighting-reform-of-law-enforcement)


The union NWSEO, which prides itself as being the first labor union to endorse the Obama-Biden ticket in 2008, said it was "keenly aware of the serious political trouble Democratic officeholders are facing in their re-election efforts in Massachusetts. This desperation does not give the agency an excuse to engage in serious and blatant violations of federal labor law," read the letter to NOAA Chief Counsel Lois Schiffer.

The objection and demand for collective bargaining traces to the previous policy practice of using money from the Asset Forfeiture Fund for "labor, benefits or awards."

XNN

[BattleFlag1776]

I'll reckon not single one them know how to care for the carcass properly and the whole fucking thing rots in some cooler somewhere.

Hell no they don’t. And I’m changing my story. I say the Japanese don’t pull core one from that tuna. Instead, that fish is destined to be sold to the closest “overseas” cat food processor for .50/lbs. At the end of the day, I’m predicting the good Capt. is presented with a hefty “bill” for both shipping and handling.

[youngbuck]

I won't get into all the nuts and bolts of it, but one of the reasons why commercial fishing is so dangerous is because of regulations.

Good men, that I knew personally, died as a direct result.


I, for one, would love it if you did go into the nuts and bolts. You could maybe start a thread on the topic detailing the pitfalls of government regulation and interference in that industry. I wrote a college paper on how bad government interference was for healthcare and insurance prices. I love seeing similar examples explained involving other industries. When the failures of government interference across multiple industries is cited, a powerful picture is painted.

[youngbuck]

Swartwood's stark conclusion exemplifies a pattern discerned by Inspector General Todd Zinser in a report last year, that NOAA law enforcement accumulated nearly $100 million in fines in an Asset Forfeiture Fund that was then used to purchase excessive numbers of vehicles — more than the agency had agents — a luxury undercover boat and overseas travel to exotic locations.

"They required him to pay $430,000 and sell his vessel and permits, and to satisfy debts, he had to sell the family home his wife's family had had since the 1600s, and leave New Bedford (for Florida) when they put him out of business," Lafreniere said, "so it hardly seems like vindication,"

:eek:

How does anyone with a conscience do something like that?

[donnay]

Billy Joel was politically motivated in the 1980's with this song about what government is doing to fishermen.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVlDSzbrH5M

[helmuth_hubener]

How does anyone with a conscience do something like that?I'm sure he thinks he's doing good. Serving the country, enforcing her just and duly written laws, looking out for the general welfare of the public, etc.

That's the kind of evil I hate the most: the evil that's absolutely convinced it's the good.

[DamianTV]

I know the F/V Athena and Rafeal, that's a real shame, but something that happens all the time.

A friend of mine on the Cape told me about his neighbor that was looking at jail time for freeing a blue whale from entangled fishing gear.

The government spy that he is required by law to carry on the boat with him, turned him in.

That's what you get for going by "the book", when the book is so big and contradictory there is no way any normal person could decipher it, let alone comply with it.

It was my ten years of commercial fishing as a teenager and young man that really opened my eyes to what was going to happen.

Commercial fishermen were, and still are, treated like a bunch of lab rats.

I've since come to learn that the system's modus operandi is to beta test new control techniques on small, unrepresented groups of people with no political power.

That way nobody makes a fuss, and then they roll it out for the general public.

When the Laws cross the line, they become only words on paper and abused as a means to exploit the Mundanes. Laws are what keep the rich rich, and the poor poor.

[oyarde]

Have any of you ever seen what a several hundred pound tuna goes for at auction in Japan ? It is amazing ....

[devil21]

Probably would be a $500,000 fish if treated properly and sold for market price in Japan.

Why, the US gov't can buy a few missiles for the drones with that kind of cash.