US: New England fishers protest proposed changes to region's cod management plan

Commercial fishers in the U.S. region of New England are protesting a new cod management plan under consideration by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), claiming the changes will destroy the region’s historic cod fishery.“These restrictions are going to be the end of the trawlers and anyone else buying fish,” New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) CEO Jerry Leeman said in a statement. “Everyone in the fisheries expects Addendum 25 to torpedo their businesses.” The NEFMC is moving forward with a plan to divide the region’s cod fishery into four stock units, as recommended by the 2023 Atlantic Cod Research Track Assessment.In September, NEFMC finalized action on Amendment 25 to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan, which begins incorporating those new changes. Amendment 25 establishes the Eastern Gulf of Maine, Western Gulf of Maine, and Southern New England as new stock units. The existing Gorges Bank stock unit will be ...