The new commercial fishing season that began May 1 amounts to more – or less – of the same. After 15 years of reductions in how often fishermen are allowed to work, the latest rules leave a typical boat with just 39 fishing days during the next 12 months.
This season, however, may be the last of its kind. New England’s 400-year-old commercial fishery is on the verge of reinventing itself in hopes that a new way of doing business can save the industry while rebuilding populations of cod, haddock, flounder and other groundfish.
The management philosophy that has relied on keeping fishing boats away from the fish is likely to be replaced by a more direct approach. If approved as expected when fishery managers gather next month in Portland, groups of fishermen – called sectors – will each be given an annual share of the region’s overall catch quota, which they can fish for whenever they want.