Not sure this is true everywhere. Maybe in the northeast, but I grew up in a fishing village in Alaska and pretty much all of our coastal towns are fishing-dominated with many, many small boats in addition to the bigger trawler/processors.

We have a similar thing with the licensing. I inherited a limited entry permit from my father. It's like getting a taxi medallion in NYC. Being young and stupid I sold it to my best friend on zero percent interest and he paid me about 1% of the total price of the thing, then stopped paying. Never had the heart to chase him for it.