I took this picture as a study of "blue" (get a load of all those blues!). Yet this fishing boat is a symbol of a community in change. Gloucester's main industry has been fishing and all the businesses that support fishing. Generations of families are fishing families. Over the years the diminishing stocks of fish have caused a collapse of the community. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration have wisely put in regulations that limit the amount of fish any one boat can catch in order to save the fish stock and help them grow. This is treated as an assault on the local livelihood. I believe it is an example of the distance between science and enterprise. This has been going on for years and year.
The Gloucester Daily Times reported yesterday that seven New England Senators have asked the President for a $150M bailout for struggling fishermen. Guess what the local reaction is? No. We don't want a bailout we want to lower the restrictions on catching fish so we can continue our tradition of fishing.
This is a community of proud Sicilian and Portuguese fishermen. Change is slow here. Gloucester is impoverished and a bailout would help the city survive.
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