February 18, 2014 — Local charter fishermen are criticizing proposed federal regulations that they fear could curtail their efforts to land cod in the Stellwagen Bank area of Massachusetts Bay, officials said.
Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association President Charlie Wade said the regulations could completely close a 73-square-mile area of the ocean to the hook-and-line groundfishing that “defines this area.”
Closing the area is one possible option being considered by the New England Fisheries Management Council, a spokeswoman said.
“What people don’t seem to understand is that we are in a very, very preliminary stage,” spokeswoman Patricia Fiorelli said in a telephone interview today. “These are only some of many options.”
The regulation is one part of a broader package of fishing regulations that the council is slated to vote on at a meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday in Danvers before taking the regulations on a tour of New England ports, seeking public input.
Wade said charter fishermen make money by taking customers out into the bay on their 25- to 30-foot boats, where the anglers can try to catch groundfish like cod and haddock.
Currently, cod fishing is banned in the 73-square-mile zone for 5 1/2 months a year, from Nov. 1 to mid-April. When the spring cod season kicks off, fishermen rush to fish there, said Wade.
Read the full story at the Boston Globe