jeff, your really walking on some sacred ground now. commercial fishing is a "way of life" almost a birthright on CAPE COD. much the same as farming is the the mid-west, lumber in the northwest, and the citrus industry is in Florida. Gee, lets see.... cape cod,the ocean, long standing maritime history..... sounds like a fishing area to me. what should local people have done for work in generations past on cape cod, mine coal, grow avacados, or perhaps raise wheat. yes, it's real sad commercial fishing is in a state of decline. however, lets put things in perspective. People love fresh fish. As long as everyone loves fresh fish, and are willing to pay any price, then you should not basatardize all commercial fishermen for supplying that demand. the problem i personally have is with the newer generation of arrivals such as yourself. you move here from some godforsaken place in search of a better existence. You probably moved here for the life style, low crime, the ocean, and other quality of life aspects not found in your previous location. Suddenly our life style isn't quite up to your standards. As in the case with commercial fishing. you've been here 3 short years, yet you seem to have firmly grasped all our problems. i'm not a true commercial fisherman, as i only do so for striped bass. however, i find it very interesting how you portaited them as being "country bumpkin" types, by: "sitting on a log, and saying fishing is all i know to do." yes perhaps many hung on to fishing far too long. as a newcomer, you don't uderstand that many fishing families on cape cod go back several generations. fishing was the only way of life,there were not many other options. many commercial fishermen lost their boats, and their homes because they knew nothing else. but, typical to many newcomers, you've got no compassion. you just want to make sure they'll be plenty of bass to catch this summer on your new 9 wt, or whatever piece of new fishing gear you just bought.