A fishing oversight committee is calling for federal regulators to suspend a program to introduce at-sea monitors aboard New England groundfishing vessels, which target important species like cod and haddock.
The observers are expected to start work later this summer, when they'll collect data about discarded fish.
Harpswell-based fisherman Terry Alexander says that, due to a lack of federal funds, the fishermen will be required to meet the costs of the at-sea monitoring program themselves - something they cannot afford to do.
"The boats are all losing money right now, so they can't afford it, you know," Alexander says. "It's $710 a day, so it's a lot of money."
Alexander's a member of the New England Fishery Management Council's Groundfish Committee, which wants the council to request emergency action from the federal authorities to suspend the program.
The issue is on the agenda for a June 18 meeting of the council in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.