NEW BEDFORD — Mayor Scott W. Lang reacted angrily to Thursday's decision by the New England Fishery Management Council to keep sharp restrictions on haddock bycatch by midwater trawlers catching herring and mackerel.
The council, he said, continues to ignore the harm its decisions are causing to fishing communities and is setting limits that have no scientific justification. "Haddock is not a choke species," Lang said.
Ultra-low bycatch requirements are being blamed for the shutdown of NORPEL in New Bedford, where 120 employees caught and processed pelagic fish. Georges Bank haddock is in abundant supply and is severely underfished, so much so that boats seeking other species can't avoid them.
In a letter he presented in person to the council at its meeting in Mystic, Conn., Lang wrote, "There was no scientific basis for reducing the 2.0 percent cap proposed by the Science Center's groundfish biologist down to only 0.2 percent. This number was completely arbitrary and has caused significant harm to the individuals who work in the herring industry."
Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.