"Sen. Brown believes we should stop funding NOAA's current catch share policy, and (he) looks forward to working with his Senate colleagues to do just that," said Colin Reed, press secretary for the Massachusetts Republican.

The net effect — including in New England, where the New England Fishery Management Council, in consort with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, launched the system last May — has been to shift control of the resources to larger businesses and corporations, while driving out smaller, independent boats that are hard-pressed to compete.

Brown has also proposed an amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Act that would require annual independent economic impact studies of new fisheries regulatory policies.