Innovation in fishing industry key to sustainability, says Moulton

Congressman Seth Moulton, D-Salem, has been a strong advocate for the North Shore and New England fishermen whose bottom lines he says are hurt by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's imposed catch limits on them.

Federal catch-limit regulations, he argues, are burdensome and often put in place based on outdated data that doesn't actually comport with what's happening with fish stocks, given migration patterns and ocean currents, among other changing variables from year to year. The result has spawned a longtime bitter battle between NOAA and fishermen.

"The reality is the fishermen very strictly have to follow NOAA's estimates when the fishery has been all over the map," said Moulton. "Some years have been abundant while others not so much."

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