April 25, 2015 — U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H., met with roughly 30 members of the local fishing industry in the Lane Memorial Library Friday morning to talk about the fishing industry, which several fishermen said was on the brink of collapsing.
The meeting was held the morning after 2015 regulations for fishing in the Gulf of Maine were approved by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These are seen as easing regulations on commercial fishermen, but would still leave recreational fishermen, including popular party charter boats, to fish for just four months of the year with limited catch allowed.
Recreational fishermen will be permitted to fish for haddock in May, June, July and August, according to the approved regulations, which were recommended by the New England Management Fisheries Council. They are permitted to catch three haddock per person per day. They must be 17 inches or larger. No cod possession is permitted.
Regulations became stringent last fall when reports from NOAA showed cod stocks had fallen dangerously low. Fishermen have complained that the regulations are putting the New England recreational fishing industry, which draws customers from across the country, out of business.
Read the full story at Seacoast Online