Council Calls For Data on
Cod Bycatch in Lobster Traps

During the heated discussions over the unexpected and devastating update to the groundfish assessment at the NEFMC meeting Oct. 1, 2014, a conversation about measuring cod mortality in lobster traps came up. Tom Dempsey, with the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, raised the subject of cod bycatch in lobster traps a number of times, and suggested NEFMC should collect data on this aspect of bycatch.

A motion was made to collect that data, but didn’t pass. However, noted groundfisherman David Goethel, in an interview after the session, the motion and vote “is now on the record.” Goethel said, “Lobstermen should join together to prove they are not part of the problem. They should be proactive to avoid being sucked into the groundfish mess.”

Paul Rago, acting chief of the Resource Evaluation and Assessment Division at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said there is evidence that cod ends up in lobster traps, but “the data is scant.” He added, these were “not high-frequency events.” Rago said scientists would be interested in having that data; there is currently no way to draw any conclusions about what, thus far, appears to be a rare event.