FISH

This week's annual negotiations in Brussels over E.U. fishing quotas for 2012 produced good and bad news for fishermen. The good news is that many of the quotas were raised, reflecting the better state of fish stocks. The bad news is that the number of days at sea allowed in order to catch those fish was reduced.

Fishermen, if not angry, were at a minimum puzzled. More fish can be caught, but you can't go out and catch them. I am not a fisherman, so I am not angry. But I admit to being puzzled.

Walter Blotscher