Critics said that a set of interim rules governing the commercial groundfish fishery could seriously undercut the industry without adequately addressing the problem of overfishing. It is told that the draft rules proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would take effect May 1, and govern commercially important species like cod, haddock and flounder.
NOAA informed that the new regulations are designed to govern the fishery until the New England Fishery Management Council finalizes its next major revision to the fishery management plan, known as Amendment 16. As per the new rules regulators would expand the area of the Gulf of Maine where each day fished is counted as two days; there would also be a prohibition on keeping ocean pout, northern windowpane and southern New England winter flounder. Gillnetters and trawlers would be prohibited from an area of southern New England waters to further protect winter flounder.
The interim rules also include the recreational fishing industry in which charter boats would have a trip limit of 10 codfish per angler, and a prohibition on retaining winter flounder. Party boats would also be subject to the same Gulf of Maine cod closure required of commercial fishermen.
It is said that the proposal’s 18 percent cut in fishing days is likely to have a severe impact on commercial fishermen. The rules are driven by the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act, which mandates an end to overfishing by 2010. But environmentalists, including Peter Baker of the Pew Environment Group, say regulators are too focused on traditional, ineffective management techniques.
