Piper - Let's add one more sentence to your quote...
also from the article of course.

"The $46 million buyout is a life-changing move for those who live by a struggling industry's changing tides. On the West Coast, owners of 92 boats will be paid an average of $497,000 to permanently remove their vessels from fishing, starting Dec. 5. The plan is aimed at cutting the West Coast trawler fleet by 50 percent. Now, those who stay in their fisheries could see their catch quotas double, starting next year."

How is that for a novel approach to saving the fish?

Me thinks the money will go to the banks for paying off their debt.

"For the fishermen who will leave their boats behind, it's a way to make a graceful exit, one "that wasn't available to them before," said Pete Leipzig, executive director of the Fisherman's Marketing Association, a West Coast trawler-industry group in Eureka, Calif. "This gives them an opportunity to sell their business with dignity and (keep) some part of their life savings intact.""

At least now there might be loan money available for other ventures that might contribute to the local residents welfare.