April 20, 2012 – Finding gillnet boats guilty of killing too many harbor porpoises, NOAA Fisheries on Thursday said that, as a consequence, it was putting about 2,130 square miles of prime fishing grounds north, west and south of Gloucester off limits for fixed-gear boats during the months of October and November this year.
The decision came as a shock to the gillnetters, who make up about half of Gloucester's commercial fleet.
Gloucester-based gillnetters have been leasing safety "pingers" from the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund and fixing them to their gear to drive off seals, whales and porpoises.
"We've got 100 percent compliance on pingers due to the Preservation Fund," said Richard Burgess, president of Sector 3, a non-profit organization of 32 gillnet boats based in Gloucester.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.