WASHINGTON (CN) – A new National Marine Fisheries Service rule will allow commercial fishermen to dump bycatch without bringing it onboard to be monitored, and a longtime sea captain says the final rule, which differs from the proposed rule, will hurt the New England fishing industry.
Peter Taylor, a long-line commercial fisherman with more than 30 years of experience, says the NMFS’ new rule invites abuse or a rule meant to ban the discarding of unmonitored bycatch.
Taylor says the proposed rule would have forced midwater trawl boats to have an observation crew take note of the vessel’s groundfish bycatch, the only exception being in instances where a bycatch of sharks prevented the crew from bringing the catch on board.
But Taylor says the NMFS issued a final rule that added a new exception without consulting commercial fisherman interested in renewing and sustaining groundfish populations in New England.