Dramatic Cod Decline Bodes Ill for Fishermen
by Laurie Schreiber
Portland, ME January 18, 2012. Ellen Goethel, Seabrook, N.H. addressed a meeting held to discuss the assessment that led to a call for drastic cuts in the cod fishery. The cuts would effect other groundfish as well. Goethel spoke of the projected 91% reduction in revenue the cuts would cause in the New Hampshire fleet. Her husband, fisherman and New England Fisheries Council member Dave Goethel has also been critical of the assessment outcome. ©Photo by Sam Murfitt
Preliminary results from the latest Gulf of Maine cod stock assessment indicated the stock is overfished and overfishing is occurring, according to information recently released by the Northeast Regional Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
NMFS said the finding likely means that “Gulf of Maine cod will have a very low annual allowable catch that will significantly reduce the catches of other groundfish species in areas where Gulf of Maine cod are found. Additional measures may be required to protect Gulf of Maine cod, and some measures slated for elimination may need to stay—particularly access to areas currently closed to groundfishing.”
