Finprof
11-11-2014, 06:45 PM
An article on Cod regulations just appeared in the online version of the Wall Street Journal. Following is a direct quote from the Journal:
"Federal regulators on Monday halted most cod fishing off New England for the next six months and said they are considering cutting the amount of cod fishermen in the region will be allowed to catch by up to 75% next year.
Officials and fishermen are struggling to rebuild the popular species whose population levels have hit an all-time low.
The plans follow an estimate in August by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the number of cod spawning in the Gulf of Maine—which stretches along the Atlantic Coastfrom Cape Cod to Nova Scotia—is only 3% or 4% of the level needed to sustain the fishery.
“This is a stock that is in free fall,” said John Bullard, a regional administrator for NOAA’s fishery arm. The numbers are the worst the agency has seen in 40 years of tracking, he said.
NOAA on Monday announced several interim measures, including rolling closures of one of nation’s best-known cod-fishing areas until April 30.
Regulators had already slashed the 2013 catch limits for Gulf of Maine cod by 77% from the prior year, to 1,550 metric tons. Next year’s catch limit is expected to be less than 400 metric tons, Mr. Bullard said. He said the measures are the region’s best chance of avoiding a collapse of stocks similar to the one that occurred on the east coast of Canada in the 1990s."
"Federal regulators on Monday halted most cod fishing off New England for the next six months and said they are considering cutting the amount of cod fishermen in the region will be allowed to catch by up to 75% next year.
Officials and fishermen are struggling to rebuild the popular species whose population levels have hit an all-time low.
The plans follow an estimate in August by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the number of cod spawning in the Gulf of Maine—which stretches along the Atlantic Coastfrom Cape Cod to Nova Scotia—is only 3% or 4% of the level needed to sustain the fishery.
“This is a stock that is in free fall,” said John Bullard, a regional administrator for NOAA’s fishery arm. The numbers are the worst the agency has seen in 40 years of tracking, he said.
NOAA on Monday announced several interim measures, including rolling closures of one of nation’s best-known cod-fishing areas until April 30.
Regulators had already slashed the 2013 catch limits for Gulf of Maine cod by 77% from the prior year, to 1,550 metric tons. Next year’s catch limit is expected to be less than 400 metric tons, Mr. Bullard said. He said the measures are the region’s best chance of avoiding a collapse of stocks similar to the one that occurred on the east coast of Canada in the 1990s."