May 2, 2013 — As the struggle to save the foundering Northeast groundfishery continues, drastic cuts on landing limits for cod, yellowtail flounder and haddock went into effect this week.
Adopted by the New England Fishery Management Council in late January and effective May 1, the cuts brought little cheerful news to the fishing communities up and down the New England coast.
“We know that for some fishing communities that have relied heavily on cod, haddock and flounder, the next several years are going to be a struggle,” said John Bullard, NOAA Fisheries northeast regional administrator, in a prepared statement released Tuesday. “We’ve done everything we can to include measures that may help soften the blow of quota cuts, but it’s going to take a collective effort to find more ways to keep both the fishery and the businesses that support it viable while these stocks recover,” Mr. Bullard said.
Quotas will be reduced on nine stocks of cod, haddock, and flounder. For nearly half of these stocks, the 2013 quotas are higher than what fishermen actually caught in the last fishing year, NOAA said. Catch limits on cod will be cut 78 per cent.
Read the full story at the Vinyard Gazette