It's not hyperbole to say most in the San Diego sportfishing fleet feared their industry could be swamped with water as boating businesses sank.
Proposed emissions standards from the California Air Resources Board, pushing technology that does not exist for their vessel class, impossible retrofits and claims that ticket increases could pay for new, multi-million-dollar boats had the group scrambling for financial life jackets.
The 18-month fight for survival threated retirement nest eggs and the ability to pass along generational businesses from parents to children.
