..The R.I. Marine Fisheries Council is in the midst of a heated public hearing on whether to roll out a trial sector allocation program for the fluke fishery.
Under sector allocation, members of the fluke sector would have the right to fish virtually any time they wanted and could ignore daily quotas, days-at-sea limits and other regulations that fishermen say make their jobs next to impossible.
Supporters of the plan, which include some members of the R.I. Commercial Fishermen’s Association, say that myriad fishing regulations are counterproductive. Fishermen often find themselves throwing perfectly good fluke overboard because of daily quotas or being forced to fish when conditions aren’t optimal.
Some fishermen who are not part of the group pushing for sector allocation say that the program would give a select few fishermen exclusive control over the fishery. They worry that the sector members would fish only when prices are high and non-sector members would have to ride their wake and pick their scraps, or else fish when prices are low and profits are slim.