Joe Orlando just wanted to hang on and keep fishing for cod and other groundfish. But late last year, the government released a report that showed that cod stocks – once almost depleted decades ago – still had not been rebuilt. Now, Orlando faces the prospect of catching less cod in the coming months.
As the New England Fishery Management Council was meeting earlier this month to craft a proposed interim action that would reduce the annual total Gulf of Maine cod catch from about 7,750 metric tons to a range between 6,700 and 7,500 metric tons, Orlando and other North Shore fishermen learned that they may be eligible to borrow funds from a $1 million low-interest loan program established by the state.
“Massachusetts has a proud tradition of commercial fishing, and these direct loans will help preserve the economic viability of our fishing ports and communities,’’ Governor Deval Patrick said in a prepared statement. The state is using federal funds from the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
“I think it’s great,’’ said Orlando, who has fished off of Gloucester’s coast for more than 40 years. Orlando has been a witness to federal regulations that have trimmed the storied Gloucester fishing fleet from hundreds of vessels to less than 100. Once, Orlando fished nearly every day. Then, in the 1990s, the government implemented regulations and began to cut his days at sea.
Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.