I disagree with Dave on several points, most notably his assessment of Benjamin's writing. Frankly I find it exceedingly amateurish, and frequently lacking in evidence to support her outlandish statements.
Case in point:
Benjamin takes special care to note that the demise of the Provincetown fishing fleet is the cause of five-years of, " Regulatory hell." Hello? Earth to Planet Benjamin, come in Planet Benjamin. This statement is so clearly false, it barely deserves an answer. The demise of the New England commercial fishery is rooted in the popularization of the diesel engine, beam trawling, and gill-netting. Un-regulated, non-selective fishing practices led to the demise of the Provincetown fleet. Period.
The so-called, " Perfect Net," which just, " Tickles," the bottom. First, whiting are skinny fish and require a small mesh size, which means that anything unlucky enough to get in front of that net, get's caught in it. Secondly, when the net is hauled aboard, ALL whiting are DEAD. Some sort of bladder inside of them expands and kills them, regardless of whether or not they are market size. This is the commercial fishing industry's idea of, " Selective Fishing," and clearly illustrates how out of touch they are with reality. As far as, " Tickling," the bottom goes, show me how you throw three-thousand pounds of net, wire, and doors over the side, and haul it with 650HP, a few feet off the bottom, and, " Tickle," it. It sounds to me like the fisherman have finally hired some marketing people to put a good spin on this.
Benjamin has the audacity to state that both environmentalists, and the fish-eating public, " Should be and are, overjoyed." She then offers us no evidence to support this ridiculous claim. I am both an environmentalist and a fish-eater and I beg to differ with her.
The most ludicrous aspect of her entreaty, is her desire to make us believe that because the fishermen themselves have tested this net for 270 hours that we should believe that it is safe for the environment. Again, she neglects to offer any evidence, other than her own biased opinion. Where do the whiting fit into the food chain? Are they a significant food source for cod? What about by-catch? I guarantee you that a whiting net will catch codfish. It will also, " Tickle," them to death, along with crabs, flounder and lobster. It is extremely easy to go out and tow for 270 hours of demonstrations without catching flounder or cod, you simply avoid the flounder and cod grounds, ( What's left of them anyway.)
This is an extremely poor excuse for, " Journalism." Journalism is supposed to be an un-biased reporting of facts, supported by evidence. This column meets none of the standards for journalism, it is simply Benjamin using the power of the media to promote her own private agenda. In her defense, columnists are not held to the same standards as reporters, and are able to use their columns to voice their opinions, but this one should have contained the notice, " Paid Advertisement For Commercial Fishing Industry."
On the plus side, this column had less spelling and grammatical errors than usual.
It is sad that the Cape's most visible voice of recreational fishermen is a poorly educated wannabee commercial fisherman. If I lived on Cape Cod, I'd let the editors of The Cape Cod Times know how I felt. Even better, why don't you Cape guys get together and find a replacement for her.
If only we could think of someone who lives on the Cape with a passion for fishing, and a talent for relating it to others. Maybe Falmouth. Maybe someone who always manages to have the whole summer off.....Hmmmmmm....
Jay