January 29, 2015 — NOAA fisheries will not modify or remove any of the restrictive emergency interim actions governing Gulf of Maine cod it instituted last November, NOAA Regional Administrator John K. Bullard said Wednesday.
Bullard, speaking during a meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council in Portsmouth, N.H., told council members that:
• The 200-pound trip limit for cod bycatch in the Gulf of Maine will remain in force despite a variety of requests by fishing stakeholders for it to be increased or eliminated.
“The main reason we took the interim action is to save cod, especially reducing cod mortality,” Bullard said in a phone interview after the meeting. “Increasing the 200-pound limit increases the mortality of cod and only provides a marginal economic benefit."
Read the full story from The Gloucester Daily Times