New England fishermen are asking the National Marine Fisheries Service to allow them to fish inside areas that have long been off limits to groundfish boats. If regulators agree, it could provide a real boost for the local fishing industry, insiders say, allowing fishermen better access to fish stocks, particularly abundant species such as redfish, pollock, haddock and hake.
"It's not asking to catch more fish," said New Bedford's Rodney Avila, explaining that fishermen already have hard quotas to limit their annual catch. "What this does is give the boats flexibility so everyone isn't piled up in one area of the ocean, beating it down."
Avila is a member of the New England Fishery Management Council, which passed a motion in favor of the change at its meeting last week.
The council asked NMFS to lift restrictions on fishing in three areas that are key to New Bedford boats. Fishermen want the Nantucket Lightship closed area to be opened for year-round fishing. They also want to open Closed Area 1 from May 1, when the new fishing year begins, until Feb. 15, 2013, and also part of Closed Area 2 for the same period. These areas include sections of the rich fishing grounds of Georges Bank.
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