The National Marine Fisheries Service — for the second time — has extended the deadline for New England commercial groundfishermen to join one of 16 fishing cooperatives now in the late stages of organization and work under the new catch share system of hard quotas and negotiable rights set to begin May 1.
According to a letter to multispecies permitholders, the fishermen now have until April 30 to decide whether to join a cooperative "sector" and participate in the region's venture into catch share fishing, the new system championed by Jane Lubchenco, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The previous joining deadline was Nov. 20.
Lubchenco last month announced the national catch share policy, which encourages the policy wherever possible. The draft policy is now in a lengthy public comment phase.
The letter announcing the addition time for fishermen to join sectors and avoid fishing in a common pool of individuals working under restrictive effort controls was posted on Dec. 23 by Patricia Kurkul, the Gloucester-based regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, the fisheries' agency within NOAA.