Owls Head, Maine, circa 1990. Images of a much simpler time, earlier than the date on this photograph suggests. The hand-operated well pump, fish drying on a clothesline, a modest home. Reminiscent of a Maine coast of the fisherman, farmer, and boatbuilder under one roof. A quality of life and independence less measured by credit scores. Peter Ralston photo www.ralstongallery.com.
“Disaster” – 86% Reduction
in Atlantic Herring
by Laurie Schreiber
NEWPORT, R.I.—At its Dec. 5 meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) confirmed its support of the more stringent of two proposed reductions of the Atlantic herring quota for the 2019 fishing year.
But some who spoke at the NEFMC meeting said they were concerned about whether the herring fleet could survive in 2019 on NEFMC’s proposal.
NEFMC projects a reduction in herring revenue for 2019, compared with 2017, of 86 percent.
NEFMC proposes an annual biological catch (ABC) of 21,266 metric tons.
“How are we not talking about a disaster here?” said Chris Weiner, a CHOIR member and a tuna fisherman. “An 86 percent reduction in revenue is a disaster.”
CHOIR is a coalition formed in 2002 by commercial and recreational fishermen “to advocate for the responsible development of the Atlantic herring fishery in the face of a growing fleet of midwater single and pair trawlers,” according to its website.
