Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Redsoxticket
Council limits herring vessels
Under the new rules that take effect in 2007, vessels that entered the herring fishery after 2003 will no longer be allowed to catch Atlantic herring. Future boats will also be barred from the fishery.
This would eliminate so called "derby fishing" when vessels race against each other to catch as much of the quota as they can before the fishery is closed, As more vessels enter the fishery, the incentive to race for fish will grow. Derby fishing can lead to overfishing and cause negative impacts.
|
Still a problem.
While it is true that only boats that participated in the fishery since before 2003 will be allowed to fish the inshore Gulf of Maine, the problem is that this was a huge concession done at the last minute.
The original date was 1999, but enough well paid lobbyists made the case that they would sue if their boats (newer entrants) weren't included in the so called Area 1 as well.
Bottom line is that this is going to qualify many many more boats into the fishery than before. So there can still be (and predictably will be) a race to fish. However, this does not mean that there will be over fishing. The herring fishery is managed by hard TACs. Once the harvest Area 1A hits 60,000 metric tons, it is shut off.
The good news is that at least the area is Purse Sein only (no midwater trawling) during the prime months when everyone else relies on there being a good forages base for predotry species (cod, haddock, stripers, etc).
The goal of those interested in seeing the orderly development of the herring fishery has always been (and continues to be) lowering the Area 1A TAC. Still got our work cut out for us.
For more info, see...
http://www.msba.net/main/index.php?o...=128&Itemid=82
Best,
Mike Flaherty
Wareham, MA