Last week, Pacific Seafoods (PS) requested a public correction in The Triplicate regarding the reason for Pacific's Exit from the Crescent City Harbor. It seems The Triplicate was mistaken when the Paper reported PS pulled out due to onerous Government regulations specifically directed against the State's Environmental Protection Agency. PS attributed its exit to declining ice sales from commercial fishermen. Without comment, The Triplicate proffered the apology, last week…but is there’s more to this story than meet the eye. Harbormaster Mike Rademaker thinks there is more to onerous over-government.Though regretful, Pacific Seafoods has decided to vacate the Harbor due to its declining ice sales, the Harbormaster believes the public has the right to know the entire story and encourages The Triplicate to “keep digging.” Certainly, most folks would agree Sacramento has on many occasions, overreached on excessive government. There is no doubt environmental regulations have contributed to the decline of the fishing industry and subsequent reduction in the demand for commercial ice.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');These regulatory burdens facing commercial fishermen are profound.Regulatory restrictions have shut down rockfish, lingcod, salmon and other fisheries, according to Rademaker. Despite pleas from Del Norte commercial fisherman that our waters are NOT over-fished, agencies which oversee regulations are skeptical of these pleas. “This incongruence can be explained by the inaccuracy of computer data models used to justify fishery closures and restrictions,” says the Harbormaster. The articulate voices spoken by the Community Fishing Group of poor or lack of data altogether and the failure to utilize hook and line survey protocol is stunning.The Harbormaster continued, “Since the ice plant was built in 1986, misguided regulatory changes have profoundly affected our fishing fleet and reduced demand for ice. A combination of fishery restrictions, closures and environmental regulations on fish processing has decreased our local fishing fleet by 75 percent. California’s stringent requirements- such as those covering ammonia-based ice plants- only add to these challenges making it increasingly difficult to sustain viable fishing operations, compared to neighboring Oregon. Our shrinking fishing fleet is one example of business being driven out of California due to burdensome regulations.” Harbormaster Rademaker looks forward to collaborating with fishermen, government and community stakeholders to create a balanced (and fair) regulatory framework that supports environmental health and economic viability of the commercial fishing fleet.The path seems to be clear: the newly-seated Crescent City Harbor Commission will consider accessing its commercial ice needs from the Beaver State and Brookings Harbor.In the meantime, The Triplicate will keep digging. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });