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February 25, 2008

ME fishermen consider federal buyout

Maine commercial fishermen got a first look last week at a proposed federal buyout program designed to reduce the number of boats in Maine's fishing fleet.

The plan aims to reduce the size of the fleet to protect depleted stocks of groundfish like cod and haddock. State Marine Resources Commissioner George Lapointe introduced the proposed $100 million federal buyout program to fishermen in Port Clyde at a meeting last Tuesday, the Bangor Daily News reported over the weekend.

Fishermen in Port Clyde said they would consider the proposal, though some panned the idea. "I don't like it because I think the [fishing] licenses are going to end up in the hands of bigger boat owners. The individual little guys with a single smaller boat could get pushed out," Gerry Cushman, a Port Clyde fisherman, told the Daily News.

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