A dramatic cut in the allowable catch of the ocean herring — a healthy stock on which more favored species feed and the lobster industry depends for bait — was announced this week.
All but certain for at least three years, the cutback plan by a scientific panel at the three-day meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council in Plymouth is wholly precautionary, and was controversial.
The panel announced an acceptable biological catch of 90,000 metric tons, down from 145,000 metric tons. David Ellenton, president of a large herring fishing and processing business in Gloucester, predicted the conservative catch limit would effectively reduce landings by 50 percent and "have a disastrous effect on the fishery."
Representing Cape Seafoods and the Western Fishing Co., Ellenton said the industry employs or serves 12,000 people, including lobster boat operators that prefer herring as trap bait.