Groundfish regulators on Thursday approved a fundamental change in fish preservation strategy. The New England Fishery Management Council agreed to scuttle the current system, which limits the number of days fishermen can spend at sea, in favor of a so-called "sector management" plan.
Under sector management, fishermen form small cooperatives, each of which is assigned a quota of fish. The fishermen in the sector can then decide how to divide up that quota, and how and when to harvest it.
Over the past decade, regulators have drastically cut the number of days fishermen can spend at sea. Many are currently allowed less than two months of fishing time a year.