The fishermen fear that if the new measure comes into effect from May 1 it may shut down groundfishing in southern New England. It is expected that shutting down groundfishing in southern New England is going to be the end of a lot of fishermen. NMFS has announced the interim measure on Jan. 15 and is the latest crisis facing local fishermen who say they have watched Galilee decline at a rapid clip in recent months.
The effect of the announcement is that more and more boats are leaving the port, moving to other ports or simply being stripped, scrapped and, in one case, bashed to bits and piled in a Dumpster. Marjorie Mooney-Seus, spokeswoman for the NMFS, informed that the interim measure was drafted in response to a request from the New England Fishery Management Council – an advisory group of federal, regional and state officials and fishermen – to develop a temporary plan to give the council time to complete its work on an amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Act for the 2009 fishing year.
Mooney-Seus said that the measures fell well short of reductions needed to ensure that stock rebuilding stayed on track. She also explained that the measures are severe, but we take seriously our obligation to consider the economic impact on fishing communities of fishery management measures.
It is opined that the interim measure has caught the attention of the state’s Congressional delegation, which pledged to pressure fishery regulators to reconsider the proposal or come up with alternatives to shutting down all groundfishing.
