The New England Fishery Management Council voted Wednesday night to cut the Gulf of Maine cod fishery limits by 77 percent for the 2013 fishing cycle and to extend similar cuts for the 2014 and 2015, dealing a dire blow to the region's fishing industry.
Over many hours of anguished debate at the council meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., the action was widely read as ending any direct fishing for a stock that has supported the inshore fleet since colonial times, while asphyxiating small ports and putting larger ones such as Gloucester under unprecedented duress. The council voted to cut the cod allocation for the Georges Bank grounds by 66 percent as well.
Council staff showed charts suggesting revenues from all ports, including Gloucester, as dropping by about one third. But council members and fishermen including Gloucester's Joe Orlando and Paul Vitale scoffed at the estimates and said the fishermen doubted they would be able to fish at all.
The council opted for an acceptable biological catch of 1,550 metric tons, choosing overwhelmingly the relatively higher option presented by the council's Science and Statistical Committee. But as Councilor Doug Grout of New Hampshire noted, the additional 300 tons to the lower recommendation by the SSC was slightly more than his state's small cohort of boats land in a year, and either number will mark "the end of the fishery."
Read the full story at Gloucester Times>>
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
The Northeast Regional Planning Body, a group of state, tribal and federal representatives from New England who are working to implement the National Ocean Policy and address critical New England ocean issues, is holding a series of public meetings in May and June.
The meetings are being held to discuss draft regional ocean planning goals and associated potential actions. The planning body seeks input on these goals and actions. Additional information on the group's progress can be found here.
The meetings will also provide an opportunity to review draft maps and products from initial efforts to gather information on the natural resources and diverse uses of the ocean, including fishing, transportation, energy and infrastructure, aquaculture, and recreation.
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