Fishermen: Wednesday's Deep Cuts Will Mark the 'End' of the Industry

Fishing industry regulators are drastically tightening catch limits on New England fisherman due to dangerously low fishing stocks, and local fisherman say the move could make the entire industry "fall apart," according to WMUR.

WMUR has reported that the New England Fishery Management Council set its 2013 limits on key fish stocks in Portsmouth on Wednesday, approving an 81-percent cut in the Gulf of Maine cod catch limit to 1,249 metric tons. The council also approved a 61-percent cut on Georges Bank cod to 5,103 metric tons, and fishermen are far from pleased about the decision, which WMUR has reported is meant as a way to compensate for decreases caused by natural fish life cycles or fishermen drawing from unhealthy stocks.

"It's the end of the oldest independent industry in the country," fisherman Russell Sherman reportedly said about the cuts, which regulators said won't destroy the industry because they feel it can adapt.

What do you think, and how do the cuts affect you? Tell us in the comments!