September 11, 2018 — An important decision for the future of the Atlantic Herring fishery will come this month from the New England Fishery Management Council.
The council will vote September 25 in Plymouth on a proposal that would push midwater trawlers at least 50 miles from the shores of Cape Cod.
The trawlers, which usually work in tandem, use very large nets to scoop up entire schools of herring, which has negatively impacted the local fishing industry and related economies.
Atlantic herring is a food source for many larger fish species and whales which feed in the area. Herring is also an important bait fish in the New England lobster industry.
Fishermen and local officials have urged fishery managers to impose a strict 50-mile buffer zone for the trawlers.
“They’ve removed so many of the herring from the waters that it’s really disrupted the entire ecosystem because there is not a solid forage base for other fish to feed on,” said Amanda Cousart, a policy analyst with the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Association.