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The Associated Press
March 14, 2005
NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) — There's a small black box wired onto Mark Chase's trawler, the Norma M. Once an hour, it tells the government where the boat is. ...
Chase had to pay $1,300 up front for the satellite monitoring system, and an additional $20 a month, even though he has done nothing to make anyone suspicious.
Owners of 300 other West Coast boats were required to install the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's "vessel monitoring system" in 2003. ...
Salmon trawlers, for example, only pull in the occasional yellow-eye or canary rockfish, and they're allowed to set hooks in waters closed to groundfishermen.
"It's an ankle bracelet," Kevin Bastien, a Newport salmon fisherman. "How would you like it if for no reason you had to have an ankle bracelet on? We didn't cause this problem.
Only limited-entry groundfishermen are required to have the monitoring system on board, but the expansion could include all "open access" fishermen, or those with a federal permit who travel outside state waters.
Peter Huhtala is senior policy director for the Pacific Marine Conservation Council, a non-profit group that advocates for sustainable fisheries.
"I can understand the irritation from fishermen's point of view about having this big brother box on your boat."...
BIG BROTHER is not only watching, but TRYING to set us up for a big fall.
Originally posted by twitchy
Since when does NOAA give a rat's tail about fish populations?
Originally posted by HowardRoark
So what is the difference between having an onboard monitor to ensure that you don't fish in protected areas and having a patrol boat out there doing the same thing?