Fishing limits relaxed slightly
Massachusetts commercial fishermen will see an increase in most of the groundfish stocks they’re allowed to catch when the new fishing year starts in May, but the change will do very little to restore what they lost a year ago.
The new rules, known as “Framework 45,” would make some adjustments to previously scheduled changes in catch limits for groundfish stocks. Taken all together, catch limits would increase for the year that starts in May for 12 stocks and remain the same for five.
Catch limits would drop for three stocks: Gulf of Maine haddock, Georges Bank haddock and pollock – although pollock limits had already been increased significantly last summer.
One key measure would raise yellowtail flounder limits by 18 percent from 2010 levels. Some scallop fishermen would benefit because they would be able to fish in a part of Georges Bank that had been closed to them during the spring to protect spawning yellowtail flounder. Raising the limit could also help other fishermen who pursue other kinds of groundfish that swim in the same area as the yellowtail.
The total allowable catch for Gulf of Maine cod, a key stock for South Shore fishermen, would increase by 6 percent in the new fishing year.
“I’m grateful for their helpfulness, but it’s still going to be really difficult,” said Frank Mirarchi, a fisherman from Scituate. “What they’re proposing to put back there will in no way replace what we lost.”
Mirarchi said the amount of fish that could be caught by South Shore fishermen was essentially cut in half last year when regulators adopted a new sector system for the industry.
The goal was to give fishermen more autonomy by divvying up fishing limits on a regional basis and to reduce the amount of fish that are thrown overboard because of regulatory requirements.
But many fishermen were surprised by the extent that the overall stock limits were reduced by regulators, leaving a much smaller pie to divide among the boats that remain in business.
“I don’t know anybody who has made any money (in the current fishing year),” Mirarchi said. “We’re just breaking even and marking time until – we hope – the allocations improve.”
The new sector rules also required extra monitoring on boats, something that fishermen say they can’t afford. NOAA, which pays for the monitoring in this fishing year, said it would continue to subsidize the costs of catch monitoring for the next two fishing years.
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