Three local fishermen have forced the National Marine Fisheries Service to backtrack on a rule that exempted large mid-water trawlers from exposing all the fish they caught in a restricted area to the eyes of onboard observers.
“I’m thrilled the National Marine Fisheries Service stepped up to the plate on this,” declared Chatham’s Peter Taylor, who long-lines for cod and haddock. “They need to go further, that’s all. They need to have the same rules outside closed areas as they do inside.”
The trawlers have been allowed into closed Area One, a spawning ground for cod, haddock and other ground fish on Georges Bank since 1998. The big boats are actually fishing for herring but Cape ground fishermen are concerned the trawlers were also hauling up loads of spawning haddock. Once the trawlers hit a bycatch limit, the fishery is shut down.
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