November 15, 2014 — Save the fish – or save the fishermen?
When the New England Fishery Management Council meets this week in Rhode Island, members hope to finalize a plan to rescue both an iconic species – Gulf of Maine cod – and those whose livelihoods have depended on it.The issue took on new urgency last week when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), responding to a council request, announced an emergency order that closes most areas off the New Hampshire coast to fishing for GOM cod until next May.
NOAA Fisheries also imposed a 200-pound trip limit for GOM cod and banned all recreational fishing for the species in the area.
The temporary actions came after new data indicated the species is in even worse shape than previously thought.
Douglas Grout is chief of the marine division for New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. He serves on the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC).
No choice
NOAA's action, which took effect Thursday, was a "stop gap" until the council can come up with permanent measures to try to rebuild GOM cod stocks, Grout said.
Maggie Mooney-Seus, public affairs officer for the Greater Atlantic Region at NOAA Fisheries, said the agency understands the new restrictions are a hardship, especially for in-shore fishermen, who make up most of New Hampshire's fleet. But she said it has no choice.
New data show that GOM cod stocks are at only 3 to 4 percent of sustainable levels, she said. A federal law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, requires fishery managers to end overfishing and rebuild the stock within 10 years when a species is in such dire straits.
But one advocate says the agency has "put the fishery ahead of the fishermen."
"It's threatening to put an entire state fishing industry out of business," said Josh Wiersma, manager of New Hampshire's fishing "sector," a fisherman's cooperative set up to trade "catch shares" and fishing rights.
Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader