NEW BEDFORD — Sharp restrictions on catching yellowtail flounder in the coming year will cause heavy economic damage to the fishing ports of the Northeast, say those affected.
But at this point no one appears to have a good grasp of how the loss of yellowtail allocation will ripple through the industry.
Vito Giacalone, analyst for the Northeast Seafood Coalition, based in Gloucester, said the New England Fishery groundfish catch could drop by half, or $30 million.
The Commerce Department shocked the industry this week by announcing that the allocation of yellowtail for the year starting May 1 would be 218 metric tons. (A metric ton is about 2,200 pounds.)
In the current year, the groundfish fleet working Georges Bank landed about 1,140 metric tons.
Losing four-fifths of the catch will cost roughly $2 million at the dock, said Dr. Brian Rothschild of the UMass School of Marine Science and Technology.
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