National Marine Fisheries Service ( NMFS ) published a final rule in the Federal Register today that outlines requirements for herring trawl ships accessing a closed area set aside for threatened groundfish populations. The area is southeast of Cape Cod and is closed to groundfish fishing because it is the spawning ground and refuge for juvenile fish such as cod and haddock. Herring trawl ships, which are up to 160 feet long and about to hold more than 1 million pounds of fish, pursue herring but are still allowed to fish in groundfish closed areas.
"Industrial herring trawl ships should not be allowed in any groundfish nursery areas under any circumstances," says Gary Libby, groundfisherman from Midcoast Fishermen’s Association (MFA) in Port Clyde, Maine. "New England’s historic cod and haddock fishermen have sacrificed too long to let industrial trawlers from away ravage these sanctuaries. They are destroying our future."
"The loopholes in this rule are so big you could sail a midwater trawl ship through them," said Earthjustice attorney Roger Fleming, who is handling a related lawsuit for the MFA.