New federal regulations have curtailed the effort of New England groundfishery fishermen.
Under new federal regulations over a half of sector fishing based on allocated catch shares. After about 12 percent of the fishing year, only two stocks – cod from the eastern side of Georges Bank, and Georges Bank yellowtail – have given up close to 12 percent of the year's allocation, according to data released Friday by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
NMFS report states high interest because of the new economic and regulatory system, which gives sector members a proportion of a total allowable catch for each stock. The individual fishermen's and sectors' catch shares can also be bought, sold or traded, essentially converting the fishery into a commodities market. Experts believe that new system would discourage the fishermen's effort to fish
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