BOSTON – The best picture scientists can snap of the condition of important New England fish stocks can be blurry, considering the fish they're trying to count live in the dark. But now Sen. John Kerry is asking the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to find out if a developing sonar technology can bring new clarity.
In a letter to Jane Lubchenco last month, Kerry asked her to designate $1 million for a system that can scan dozens of square miles of ocean in an instant.
A fish stock's health is the critical factor when regulators decide how much fishermen can catch. A bad estimate can mean an unnecessarily low catch limit, and that can end a fishing business, or cause unintended overfishing.
Read the complete story by Jay Lindsay of The AP at The Portland Press Herald.