Groundfish landings and revenue are down, the fleet is consolidating and there are fewer jobs for crew members, according to a report on the 2010 performance of the groundfish fleet in the Northeast.began on May 1, 2010, and ended April 30.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said the report was simply confirmation of what fishermen have been experiencing firsthand and drew an analogy with the scallop industry in the 1990s.
The report, released by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration on Wednesday, comes after the first full year of fishing under a regulatory system known as sector management.
Produced by five scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, the report compared the 2010 findings with an average taken from the years 2007-09.
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