Erik Anderson does more lobstering than ground fishing these days given the flood of new federal regulations limiting commercial fishermen's days at sea.

And New Hampshire fishermen, unlike their counterparts in Maine and Massachusetts, haven't received any funds from Congress to help them adjust to new, often-changing regulations or transition to other lines of work, Anderson said.

He's paid out of his pocket to buy new trap lines to comply with rules designed to protect whales. It could cost New Hampshire lobstermen $1.3 million to replace their trap lines, which is one reason they need aid, he said.

The rules on lines are just one of many in a growing sea of red tape affecting the industry. The New England Fishery Management Council in 2006 issued a body of new regulations, named Framework 42, that cut commercial fishermen's days at sea from more than 80 to just 39. The change was designed to help several fish stocks recover in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.

To keep their businesses financially viable, some fishermen bought extra groundfishing permits to increase their days at sea. A permit can cost as much as $100,000. But further rule changes will create a sector management system that will go into effect in May 2010. Commercial fishermen will adhere to catch limits as a group rather than individually.

And as the rules continue to change, investments in additional groundfishing permits could be rendered a financial loss.

Meanwhile, regulations calling for ground fishermen and lobstermen to spend millions of dollars on new equipment and lines already are in effect.

Federal aid is designed to help fishermen adjust as the regulatory goalposts change. New Hampshire's fishermen, however, have had difficulty securing assistance since the makeup of Congress changed in 2006, when voters gave Democrats the majority.

David Goethel, a commercial fisherman from Hampton who serves on the fishery management council, said U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., lost influence on the Senate Appropriations Committee, leading to a lack of ability for the senator to personally ensure spending allocations for the state remained intact through the legislative process. Gregg, while still on the committee, now is part of the panel's Republican minority.

"Last year, I requested that funding be included in the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill to assist the New Hampshire commercial fishermen," Gregg said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the Democratic Majority did not include this request in the final version of the bill."

Also, Goethel said, a former coalition of New England states with commercial fishing industries including Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, fractured after the Framework 42 regulations were issued.

He said Massachusetts at that time broke away from the group to lobby in a focused manner for its own commercial fishermen.

Massachusetts' commercial fishing industry has received nearly $14 million from the federal government. Maine has received $2.7 million, and Rhode Island will get $3 million over the next few years.

"They didn't just cut their own piece of the pie," Anderson said of Massachusetts. "They took the whole pie."

There has been fallout. There are now 35 groundfishermen in New Hampshire. Just two years ago, there were 60 groundfishermen who fished out of the Portsmouth Fishermen's Cooperative, which now is closed.

"You just can't take care of one state and not take care of the others. There's got to be some equity," Anderson said.

Members of New Hampshire's congressional delegation say they understand the situation.

U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., asked federal officials this summer to review their decision to exclude New Hampshire fishermen in a June allocation that included millions of dollars for Maine and Massachusetts fishermen.

Gregg and U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., also pushed for $825,000 in aid for local fishermen in August. The money, placed in the 2010 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill, is awaiting consideration by the full Senate and would be directed to the state Department of Fish and Game to provide assistance.

Shaheen spokeswoman Colleen Murray said Shaheen also has asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to allocate millions of dollars to help New England fishermen implement new regulations as well as urging Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to revisit regulations and provide additional funds for the state's fishing industry.

Gregg, Shaheen and Shea-Porter wrote Locke on Sept. 30.

"As you prepare your FY2011 budget request, we hope you will recognize the significant challenges this transition to a new management system will create for all New England fishermen, especially boats in New Hampshire with small quotas," the letter reads. "We urge you to include adequate funding to achieve a successful management system while also ensuring the future viability of New Hampshire's groundfish industry."

The delegation also asked Locke to ensure the state's fishermen would be allowed catches that will let them stay in business.

The Portsmouth City Council wrote a letter dated Sept. 29 to Shea-Porter on the issue.

The letter notes that many commercial groundfishing permits New Hampshire fishermen bought to add days at sea might be negatively affected by future regulations, and that it's the council's understanding that "the Massachusetts and Maine delegations had been able to obtain federal funding to set up permit banking programs" to alleviate the situation.

Goethel, the commercial fisherman from Hampton, said under the new regulations he might lose two permits he bought, and that after he had to take out a second mortgage on his home to buy one of them.

Last spring, he said, $2 million was due to be added to NOAA's budget and funneled to the state's commercial fishermen. But it never happened.

Douglas Grout, chief of the state fish and game agency's Marine Fisheries Division in Durham, said Friday the money probably never made it into the final federal budget in 2008.

Teri Frady, a spokeswoman for NOAA in Woods Hole, Mass., confirmed New Hampshire was not due to get $2 million in 2009. The state did get $1 million for a disaster declaration to deal with red tide.

In 2008, there was a request for funds for a disaster declaration for the state's commercial fishing industry, "and that wasn't granted and there was never an appropriation for that either," Frady said.

Groundfishing revenue in Maine from 2005 to 2007 averaged about $16.8 million per year. This compares to about $4.3 million in New Hampshire over the same period, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

But Goethel said the lack of federal aid has nothing to do with the fact that New Hampshire has the smallest coastline and smallest commercial fishing fleet of all the New England states.

"For whatever reason, New Hampshire has ended up on the cutting room floor," he said.

John Huff/Staff photographer Fresh lobster arrives at the State Pier in Portsmouth recently. * Order a print of this photo

John Huff/Staff photographer Fishing boats tied to their moorings at the Portsmouth Fishermen's Cooperative in Portsmouth. * Order a print of this photo