Dan Shannon
Sector Management in New England
This project documents fishery management related changes in individuals, households, and communities in New England.
Elizabeth Wetterhahn
Dan Shannon, 48, is a commercial fisherman out of Scituate, Massachusetts. He began fishing around age 15 and has had his own boat for 20 years. He currently fishes predominantly lobster on Stellwagen Bank and in Massachusetts Bay, but also catches codfish and haddock. He joined sector 10 because the common pool was not a viable option. Mr. Shannon believes that sector management is not the appropriate strategy and was implemented unfairly. He finds that he has to work harder, spend [more?] money and gross more revenue in order to make the same amount of profit as he did under Days-at-Sea (DAS) management. His quality of life is worse, largely due to stress associated with sector management. He believes that instead of regulating big boats who put the most pressure on the resource, little boats are being put out of business. Overall, Mr. Shannon does not believe it is right for individuals to own fish; fish were a public resource that have been privatized by sector management. However, there is no viable alternative to that privatization under the current management regime.
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