GLOUCESTER, Mass. — November 11, 2012 — Federal fishing regulators have proposed a new way to help struggling fishermen target the plentiful Acadian redfish.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wants to allow fishermen to use nets with smaller mesh sizes to better catch the reddish-orange schooling fish.
Redfish was heavily fished in the 1950s and 1960s. But demand dropped by the 1980s, and that’s allowed the population to grow.
A lack of interest in redfish, which is relatively small and labor intensive to cut, has meant its markets have withered.
Regulators want to revive the redfish market as an alternative for fishermen absorbing huge cuts in other, less healthy species.
Read the full story by the Associated Press in the Boston Globe