Talk is cheap.
And unfortunately, that is the bulk of what the Massachusetts fishing industry has received from its congressional delegation as it struggles for survival in the face of an ever-tighter federal regulatory squeeze.
It is time — past time — for something more valuable than talk. Essex County fishermen need legislative action in their behalf, and soon.
Sen. John Kerry, the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Congressman John Tierney have all expressed support for fishermen in recent years. Kennedy famously said in 2002 that fishing had been an anchor industry in Gloucester for 400 years, "and we're not going to let it stop now."
But with a new regulatory regime in the works that could put a majority of the remaining local fleet out of business or to work as "share croppers" for much larger, out-of-town owners, the region's congressional representatives remain virtually silent. No action from Kerry or Tierney. Nothing from Sen. Paul Kirk, Kennedy's interim replacement.
What the fishermen need from their legislators is not more hollow expressions of support, but legislation to delay the new regulatory regime, known as "catch shares" for at least a year.
If they need reasons, they can refer to the recent testimony of David Goethel, a New Hampshire fisherman and member of the New England Fishery Management Council, who told a congressional committee this week that the vote last June to convert to catch shares, in which fishing sectors become tradeable commodities, was done without an analysis of the economic and social costs.
If that analysis had been done, he said, it would have shown that without congressional intervention, the industry will be transformed from small, independent boat owners to a few, large vessels in large ports, "and a way of life that has existed for over 400 years will be lost."
That, by the way, is the way of life that the late Sen. Kennedy vowed to protect.
