IN THE bright midday sun, boats idle as fishermen unload the day’s haul. This scene is commonplace in Maine’s small fishing hamlets; but Port Clyde is known not for its lobsters but for its fish. It is home to the last groundfishing fleet between southern Maine and Canada. Of the species caught off its shores, none is more famous than the Atlantic cod, nutritious and easily preserved when dried and salted. Historically its appeal was such that wars were fought over New England’s fisheries.
Cod have suffered from their popularity. Fifteen years ago the stock crashed to under 10% of the level reckoned sustainable for fishing. As the fish disappeared, so did the fishermen. Before the crash, anyone could get a commercial-fishing permit. Since then the government has stopped issuing new permits and has imposed a tangle of ever-increasing restrictions—limiting fishing days, capping daily hauls, regulating gear and closing areas to boats. These make it difficult to stay in business. Roughly 600 boats are active in the New England fleet, half the number of 2001.
Despite the restrictions, Gulf of Maine cod are still at barely half the desired population, and the population at Georges Bank, 60 miles (100km) offshore is at 12% of it. This has prompted another regulatory overhaul. Fishermen are now banding together to form “fishing sectors”, which are given an annual quota from the New England Fishery Management Council, a federal body.