To the editor:
I have been writing about this fiasco for years now, and just keeps going on and on — going to meetings, and seeing the fishermen's voices falling on deaf ears.
I'm going to call out our representatives as not being able to get things done.
Our own Bruce Tarr, and Ann Margaret Ferrante have been our advocates along with Tiernay, Frank, Brown, and supposedly Gov. Patrick, who has an in with the president.
The governor just said again in his inaugaral speech how he's going to make a priority of making jobs — but again, never mentioned the fishing industry, which creates more jobs in our area than any other industry around. Yet it is put on a shelf and not even considered.
It's mind blowing how this goes on, and it's mindblowing and aggravating to me how our represenatatives have worked on this, talked about this, but have been unable to do anything to change it.
Do they have no power at all? Does Patrick talk to Obama at all about what's going on in this industry? Does Obama realize that there are thousands of other jobs that are related to the fishing industry and would help our economy come out of this recession?
Does he not care that his government agencies are proven to be corrupt and closes his eyes to it? Does he want to be re-elected?
How do all these things come into play and then just get ignored as they have for years, while the fishermen, cities, families, etc. fall by the wayside?
Is Pew and the other big environmental agencies running this country? Obama talks so much about the rights of our citizens and history, and the constituitional rights, Yet this agency (NOAA) has so violated our naton's own workers, and he turns his head the othe way?
This is all one big agenda that isn't going to stop. The only leverage we have is to get fishing industry representatives up and down this coast, get together, and take back your rights.
Just go fishing altogether and catch what you want, go fishing when you want, answer to nobody as it's our rights to free enterprise and freedom. Take back what is our right to do.
What's the alternative? Families are losing homes, a way of life taken away unlawfully hurting people, cities, the economy, the way of life we know and nothing being down about it. There should be no way that this should be happening in this country.
You don't tell people how many days they can work, what they are allowed to catch, force boats to have observers to watch them like the criminals government has portrayed them to be, etc. In the purest sense, there should be no restrictions on anything; the fact that there is means this is an industry being discriminated against.
Let's get together and make this happen. We have nothing to lose.
This governmet needs a wakeup call showing that we won't be criminalized anymore, and we can take back our civil rights like everyone else has.
Our represenatatives can't do it. Maybe these letters will get forwarded to the president, by Bruce Tarr or anyone else .
But tbis situation os sickening, and action is way overdue.
SAM FRONTIERO
Stuart Road, Gloucester
