July 10, 2023 — There is a haddock problem swimming around Gulf of Maine waters.
But don’t blame the problem on fishermen catching too many haddock, say Maine commercial fishing advocates like Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association. In fact, they have been fishing in accordance with mandated quotas for decades, he said, regulatory measures that have returned the haddock stocks in the Gulf of Maine to sustainable levels.
The problem, rather, is grounded in inaccurate accounting of the boom-and-bust cycles of haddock biomass, that is, how many fish are swimming in the Gulf of Maine at any given time. In April, the New England Fishery Management Council, a regional body that uses industry and scientific data to recommend quotas that restrict how many metric tons of regulated species Maine fishermen can haul in each year, announced a cut in haddock quotas. It represents an 80-plus percent reduction in allowable catch; the new season began on May 1.
To understand this year’s drastic cut, you need to go back several years: The 2022 catch limits were based on a 2019 stock assessment, according to New England Fishery Management Council member Dr. Jamie Cournane speaking in a podcast hosted by Martens. In hindsight, the 2019 assessment was found to be bloated because, among several factors, the “recruits” (the juvenile fish swimming with the 2019 cohort) matured to be smaller than anticipated. Thus the 2023 limits, ultimately calculated in pounds, were set on an assessment conducted in 2021 that reflects the skinnier fish.
Fishermen have formally questioned the 2021 assessment because they say they are seeing many haddock in the Gulf of Maine. Not only is haddock a significant revenue source for them, but the fishermen fear that they’ll be restricted from catching other groundfish – particularly American plaice and grey sole – that also swim near the bottom of the sea. Say, for example, that fishermen fill their quota for haddock by August. They’d then have a hard time taking a trip to catch plaice or grey sole because haddock bycatch, likely, would also be in the nets.
Cournane and her colleagues have recommended an emergency increase in haddock catches for Maine fishermen to allow them to keep fishing for other groundfish species; the emergency increase would allow for wiggle room in the net for a few haddock as bycatch. The increase is small and on par with conservation efforts mandated by federal law, she said. According to Janice M. Plante, Council spokesperson, no conservation groups spoke out against the emergency measure in April.