The two candidates in the 9th Congressional District answered questions about the future of commercial fishing during a debate Wednesday night at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Republican businessman Peter Tedeschi says if elected, he would push to keep permits belonging to convicted fishing mogul Carlos Rafael in New Bedford rather than made available to ports throughout New England.

He also ripped incumbent Congressman William Keating for his "no" vote on renewing the Magnuson-Stevens fishing law. "Members of the senior political environment in New Bedford say they were for it, and fishermen said they needed it, but Congressman Keating voted against it. I would have voted for it," Tedeschi said.

Keating says he worked closely with fishermen during the process and learned Republicans had "gutted" the measure before the vote. "We found out that the bill Peter would have voted for, and that I voted against, would result in fishermen catching less fish," said Keating. "The regulators were going to give more to recreational fishermen, and take fish away from ground-fishermen."

Both candidates were questioned about a host of issues, including offshore wind development, education, and climate change.

Tedeschi and Keating took part in a radio debate on WBSM on Tuesday, answering questions about foreign affairs.

Wednesday night's debate was sponsored by the Southcoast Alliance, and moderated by Shannon Jenkins, the chair of the Political Science Department at UMass Dartmouth. The debate was streamed over the WBSM app.

Election day is November 6.

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