Fisherman Flotilla to Protest Obama

Remember when George W. Bush would go on vacation and for years was stalked by the nutty Mother Sheehan, accompanied by a sympathetic media army? Well, media coverage of the Obamas on vacation is much more tame, typically consisting of a select number of topics, like where the basketball or golf game is and what kind of ice cream they're eating today.

So it'll be curious to see if an actual protest against Obama merits any coverage later this week. We won't hold our breath.

With the national media gathered on Martha's Vineyard this week for President Barack Obama's vacation, fishermen are seizing the opportunity to organize a floating protest at Vineyard Haven on Thursday.

A flotilla of commercial boats will rendezvous at the harbor entrance at noon to demonstrate that fishermen are less than happy with the Obama administration's oversight of their industry.

Flawed fisheries science, an oppressive law enforcement policy and unnaturally low catch limits are at the heart of the protest, organizers said.

"We don't know the count yet but it will be at least 25 and maybe as much as a hundred boats," said Richie Canastra of the New Bedford Seafood Display Auction.

Here's a tip for these protesters if they want media coverage. Put up a Free Gaza sign and denounce Israel. You'll get plenty of free publicity.

Commercial fishermen from Maine to New York are being invited to join the demonstration, sponsored by the Recreational Fishing Alliance, the group that brought several thousand fishermen to Washington, D.C., for a similar protest last February. The New Bedford Seafood Display Auction and the American Alliance of Fishermen and their Communities also are backing the protest.

"Both commercial and recreational fishermen are suffering from a badly flawed law, the Magnuson Act," said Jim Donofrio, executive director of Recreational Fishing Alliance.

The federal law that governs fisheries nationwide needs to be fixed, "based on good science and not science fiction," he said. "We can't rebuild fisheries using artificial time lines because when fishery management plans butt up against this law they have no choice but to shut us completely down or cut back the quotas so bad that it's not even worth going out."

"It's killing the charter and party boat people as well as the commercial guys."

In Rhode Island, Tina Jackson, president of the American Alliance of Fishermen, said she had been speaking with many boat owners and encouraging them to join the protest. "We want to get our message across," she said.

The new regulations have impacted many in the industry, according to Jackson.

"It's time for the president to be aware of his responsibilities to the producers, the fishermen," she said. "We didn't want this. We didn't ask for this," she said of the new regulations.

"We didn't want this. We didn't ask for this" could well be a campaign slogan for just about anyone running for office this year. What has Obama imposed in us that anyone has wanted?

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