Midwater Trawl Allowed - with Observers

Thank goodness these boats will be required to have observers on them ......

Effective on November 2, 2009, 
at the request of the New England Fishery Management Council, 
NOAA Fisheries Service's Northeast Regional Administrator is adding three conditions 
to to the Gulf of Maine /Georges Bank Herring Midwater Trawl Authorization Letter for vessels 
fishing in Closed Area 1: 

• 100 percent observer coverage 
• Prohibition on slipped codends, and 
• Requirement that all fish be pumped aboard to allow sampling by the observer. 

Reports of groundfish bycatch in Area 1 
over the past several years prompted the New England Fishery Management Council 
to request that NOAA Fisheries Service implement additional observer requirements for vessels 
that fish with midwater trawl gear, in order to obtain additional bycatch information.

 Access to other Northeast multispecies closed areas is not affected by these regulation changes.

We can't be-grudge anyone from making a living ..... but one of the biggest problems with the inshore fishery is the fish that live there don;t have enough to eat .... look at the recreational Cod-fishery .... coming back in a big way with the return of the herring ... 


Little Trivia: Did you know that the codfishes' natural enemy while in the larvae stage is the herring and sand eel? 
They hatch (herring and sand eel) a little sooner than the cod and eat the cod eggs and larvae in the early stages .... then, the cod takes over and chases them for the rest of their lives.