November 13, 2012 — Exactly two months after the Northeast groundfishery was acknowledged to have become a statutory disaster for the five New England states and New York, the regional fishery management council digs in today to debate and possibly vote on a suite of changes to the system — none with the potential to provide dramatic relief to an industry in dire straits.
Direct relief has been left to Congress; the congressional delegation has agreed to press for $100 million although no written plan exists for the use of that or any amount that may be included in the resolution of the federal budget and sequestration crisis, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.
If anything, the disaster is spreading from the groundfishery — which faces catch limits reduced by between 45 and 73 percent on Gulf of Maine Cod and multiple Georges Bank stocks, unprecedented since the enactment of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976 — to the scallop fishery, the nation’s No. 1 fishery based on sales value, and a fishery centered in New Bedford.
Scallopers and groundfishermen are linked together by yellowtail flounder. Yellowtail is a target for the groundfishing fleet, but is worth much more as bycatch in the $440 million scallop fishery. In recent years, yellowtail has become an increasingly worrisome problem for scientists, fishermen and, political leaders and government regulators, and today could become the pivotal topic as the council.
It is unlikely the council will take final action on catch limits for the 2013 fishing year; a special meeting has been scheduled for Dec. 20 to approve catch limits and tie up the loose ends to an adjustment to Amendment 16, which holds the framework for the controversial catch share management system that has transformed the groundfishery into a commodities market.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Times