The higher catch limits for the New England groundfish complex announced this week by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke were actually set by the federal regional fishery management council in 2009 in the final construction of Amendment 16, the regulatory regimen.
And while the secretary was correct in noting that catch limits generally were being increased, catch limits on two major stocks โ haddock and pollock โ were severely reduced. So, the total allowable catch for the groundfishing fleet in all stocks will be lower by 9.1 percent in the fishing year that begins May 1, documents indicate.
The reduced catch limits were not mentioned by Locke in his prepared statement, nor did he note that the combined limit for all stocks would be lower.
While the reported increases were announced with a flourish, fishermen scoffed at the plan, saying the higher catch limits had long been a fait accompli and were largely irrelevant since the fleet has not come close to landing the slightly lesser catch limits for the fishing year ending April 30.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.