But it’s not clear how or if that pain can be avoided, weeks after new scientific numbers indicated cod in the Gulf of Maine is much weaker than thought.

“We really haven’t heard of something that works right now,’’ said Gib Brogan, of the environmental group Oceana.

Fishery science and law present major obstacles to preserving both cod and fishermen.

The law requires scientists to set a limit on how hard fishermen can fish for any species. If they exceed it, they’re illegally overfishing and regulators are charged with “immediately’’ stopping it. That means, given the grim new estimate of cod’s health, fishermen would have to accept a debilitating cut of about 90 percent in their cod catch next year, and there’s little wiggle room to avoid it.

Read the complete story by Jay Lindsay of The AP at The Boston Globe.

Listen to the Saving Seafood Radio Show about cod with Eric Schwaab.