PORTSMOUTH — A recent assessment of Gulf of Maine cod stock could have "devastating" implications for independent groundfishermen in New Hampshire.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service has called for a special meeting at 10 a.m. today at the Sheraton Harborside hotel. Industry leaders will meet with scientists to discuss the implications of a 2011 preliminary assessment that shows the cod stock was much smaller in 2008 than initially believed.
Maggie Mooney-Seus, public affairs officer for the NMFS northeast regional office, said the preliminary assessment produced some alarming results. It indicates that, in 2010, cod stock was about 20 percent of its fully rebuilt size and fishing rates were nearly five times the overfishing level.
The 2011 preliminary assessment is vastly different from the 2008 assessment, which suggested the spawning stock biomass — the fish able to reproduce — in 2007 was around 74.9 million pounds and that the stock was overfished, but overfishing was not occurring. It appears from the new assessment that spawning stock biomass is closer to 26.5 million pounds, with a total biomass around 46.3 million pounds, she said.
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