For reasons that scientists and fishermen cannot fully fathom, haddock is making a dramatic comeback in Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine, but it may not be enough to help the region’s groundfishing industry.
In what may be a perfect storm of strong management practices to reduce overfishing, the right biological conditions to aid the haddock’s reproductive cycle, and just pure luck, one of New England’s struggling groundfish is back.
"It’s in excellent shape. It’s fully rebuilt," said Pat Fiorelli, a spokeswoman with the New England Fisheries Management Council in Newburyport, Mass., which restricted haddock fishing since the stock collapsed in the mid 1990s.