BOSTON– May 1, 2013 — As Gov. Deval Patrick and members of Congress continue to press the White House and federal regulators to postpone severe reductions to catch limits for New England fishermen, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday notified Congress that it was moving forward with the reductions as planned for Wednesday.
NOAA announced Tuesday that it intended to file the catch limits for the 2013-2015 fishing seasons, imposing limits for Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank cod that are 78 percent and 61 percent lower that fiscal 2012, respectively.
Substantial reductions to catches of groundfish are also being made for Gulf of Maine haddock, Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, American plaice, witch flounder and Cape Cod, Gulf of Maine and Southern New England yellowtail flounder.
Regulators insist the new limits are “necessary to ensure stocks are not subject to overfishing,” but Massachusetts politicians and researchers have questioned the science used to draft the new limits, and fishermen warn it could cripple a $2 billion industry in Massachusetts.