The proposed rules would allow only 20 fishing days in an effort to rebuild fish populations by 2014 for New England’s battered groundfish industry. With this rule the industry faces even deeper cuts in fishing days under a new set of federal rules proposed for the season beginning May 1. The National Marine Fisheries Service announced that in the proposed rules the cutbacks, as expected, are severe and could further shrink the size of Maine’s remaining groundfish fleet in an effort to rebuild fish populations before a federal deadline in 2014.
It is said that if the proposal approved fishermen face an 18 percent reduction in the number of days they are allowed to fish. The average fishing boat is already down to 48 after years of gradual cutbacks. It is also told that the boats fishing in an expanded area of the Gulf of Maine would use two fishing days for each actual day at sea. Glen Libby, a fisherman from Port Clyde, said that the combination of rules effectively means the average Maine fishermen would have only 20 fishing days in the next fishing year.
U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, issued a written statement blasting the proposal and vowing to oppose it. He added that it is absolutely absurd to expect any fisherman to afford to operate at sea for only 20 days out of the year. The federal agency said in its announcement that the proposal also includes changes to help fishermen stay in business.
