NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — February 15, 2013 — Groundfishermen will be allowed to carry over as much as 10 percent of this year's quota into next year, NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator John Bullard announced Thursday.
The move was sought by fishermen and lawmakers from fishing districts as well as the U.S. Senate.
It immediately came under fire from the Conservation Law Foundation's attorney, Peter Shelley, who said "10 percent more of too much is still too much."
Carryover has been common practice in recent years to make fishing more flexible and safer as boats don't attempt to fish in bad weather to bring in the last of their quota.
But this year, drastic cutbacks in cod and haddock quotas were leading the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to end the carryovers.
So keeping them matters a great deal, Bullard said. "It's 10 percent of last year's quota, but it's a lot more than 10 percent of the coming year's quota," Bullard told The Standard-Times.
The carryover of Gulf of Maine cod is the sole exception, Bullard said. That will be held to 2 percent to avoid overfishing a badly depleted stock.
Shelley said carryover is a good idea in normal times "but these aren't normal times."
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times