Fluke season closed for another year

The Fluke are now protected from all - except the other fluke eating creatures in the sea, the predators of the sea and there are many. We put a sign on the net that says, "No Fluke allowed." We've picked up our nets and have moved back to Provincetown. Traveling with Dave to bring the Richard & Arnold back to her homeport from the Vineyard took 6 & 1/2 hours, across the Sound, through Woods Hole cut, up Buzzards Bay to the Cape Cod Canal, under three bridges to slip into Cape Cod Bay. The Pilgrim Monument was visible, the tide flowed east and there on the horizon was home. It's good to have Dave and the boat back. The schedule for summer fluke is hard on us because we can't afford to miss time fishing, its just about the only fishing we can do that makes us a bit of a profit.

I was talking to a young fisherman in Provincetown yesterday and he told me that the Feds just cut 27% of his allocated sea scallops. You have to first understand that he borrowed money from the bank to purchase the allocation of scallops from a broker / agent - so that he could keep going out for scallops and hopefully make some money. Now the government has cut him back another 20%. So even though he is paying for 100% of his purchased scallop allocation, a loan from the bank, he can't catch them - he's out 47% right off the top. There is something wrong with this picture, because if you ask any of the full time scallopers who control 97% of the allocation, they'll tell you things have never been so good. So how now brown cow - can't we simple let a handful of men do their thing. Go to work and share the scallop pie. I remember when there were no regulations, no us against you,  we'd fish right next to 100 footers, we made money and so did they. What's the big deal?

I saw no draggers on the way home, no sea scallopers transiting, just a few run-about skiffs and a couple of sail boats and two luxury yachts.  Where have all the boats gone?