Boston-
“The emergency and interim measures announced today by NOAA Fisheries will be
severely damaging to a groundfishery that is already struggling to survive on a
day-to-day basis. That groundfishery certainly depends on healthy cod stocks,
but it also depends on New England’s fishing families and fishing
infrastructure, particularly the inshore fleet, being able to carry on against
the overwhelming threats posed by the measures released today.
We don’t have a moment to waste to protect our commercial fishing industry and now is the time for anyone who cares about the industry to rise up and defend it with bold and decisive actions, including but not limited to:
- An unprecedented
scientific collaborative research effort to determine what the actual
condition of the cod stock is with the real, engaged partnership of
fishermen who stand to lose their livelihood from today’s announced
measures. That effort must determine why the many strict measures that
have been undertaken to date haven’t worked, and why the tremendous
hardships that have been sustained because of them haven’t produced a
healthy cod stock.
- Immediate measures to
preserve and protect New England’s domestic fishing infrastructure,
including vessels and shoreside facilities.
- Financial assistance for
those who depend on groundfishing for their income.
Given the severity and immediacy of these emergency actions, NOAA, the New England federal legislative delegation, and its counterparts in state government can’t afford to wait for them to do damage, we all need to move forward now to develop and implement a plan to mitigate that damage before it’s too late.
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To read NOAA Regional
Administrator John Bullard’s statement on the issue, please click here. Posted below is a map of seasonal closures affecting Gulf of
Maine cod.