A Floundering Industry in Sheepshead Bay
This article appeared in the 7 January issue of The Brooklyn View.
“I think I just got screwed out of some money,” Bobby Fish said as he thumbed through the crumpled ball of fives and tens in his calloused, grease-stained hand. As second mate on the Sea Wolf, a dilapidated party boat that operates out of Sheepshead Bay, he and his first mate Kenny agreed that the commercial fishing industry here has seen better days.
The trouble for fishing boats began back in the 1930’s when business was great. But after decades of over-fishing, which has brought several species to the brink of collapse, the federal government passed the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976, which gets ratified annually by Congress. The goal was to end over-fishing and rebuild fish stocks by enforcing stricter regulations.
“They put these insane, asinine laws in place,” said Bobby Fish, “and they make it impossible.”