BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday asked the U.S. commerce secretary for emergency increases in fish catch limits, saying a new report by state scientists justifies them.
Fishermen have argued that federal regulators wrongly set limits on some protected species so low that it will prematurely shut them down. Under new rules, if fishermen exceed their limit on one species, they must stop fishing for all species.
Last month, Secretary Gary Locke said he was open to ordering emergency increases in catch limits, but he needed evidence to justify any increases.
In the report sent Friday, scientists from the state's Division of Marine Fisheries and the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth said Northeast fishermen could safely catch 14,500 metric tons more groundfish, such as flounder and cod.
Read the Associated Press story in the Boston Globe.