NEW BEDFORD — August 25, 2012 — Mayor Jon Mitchell interrupted a family vacation on Cape Cod Friday to deliver an urgent appeal on behalf of commercial fishermen at a meeting of fisheries scientists in Boston.
Accompanied by New Bedford fisherman Rodney Avila, the mayor asked the New England Fishery Management Council's science and statistical committee to maintain the existing catch limits for New England groundfish for the next fishing year which begins on May 1.
Earlier this month, the council's groundfish committee projected cuts of 70 percent and more for species such as cod and haddock in the 2013 fishing year.
The science and statistical committee, made up of 18 fishery scientists, makes recommendations on setting catch limits to the full fishery management council.
"There is no difference of opinion about the likely impact of these cuts," Mitchell told The Standard-Times after the meeting. "Many fishermen will just go out of business."
Maintaining the current catch limits would allow time for a comprehensive review of the stock assessment models and the data collection process, Mitchell said. The fishing industry has long complained of the scientific models used by NOAA's Fishery Service to assess the abundance of fish stocks.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times.