NEW BEDFORD — U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has asked federal fishing regulators to hold off on drastic measures until there can be another stock assessment for Gulf of Maine cod.
The Northeast fishery has been jarred by news that the official 2010 stock estimate shows a dramatic drop in the cod biomass, to the point where the species is officially overfished by a factor of five. Using the new assessment, even a complete shutdown of the cod fishery in the Gulf of Maine would not reach the rebuilding goal of 2014 as set by the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
In a letter to Commerce Secretary John Bryson, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Jane Lubchenco and National Marine Fisheries Service director Eric Schwaab, Kerry called on NMFS "to immediately conduct a new assessment" with "complete information that has been developed with the consent of all stakeholders."
"The most recent Gulf of Maine cod assessment threatens to further exacerbate a number of issues our fishermen already face, with potentially disastrous consequences," Kerry wrote. The recent report showed a stock level of only 11,400 metric tons, 22,600 metric tons less than a previous assessment. "Our only option is to rapidly develop a response that is fair and sound and that our fishermen can trust," Kerry wrote.
Read the complete article in The Standard-Times