Backers: Inshore herring trawling ban will aid groundfish stocks

March 28, 2007

Gloucester Daily Times
By Douglas A. Moser

A new ban on inshore trawling for herring that will begin this summer will help struggling groundfish stocks by keeping more herring around for them to feed on, supporters of the move said.

Vessels using trawling gear to catch herring must now take the summers off in the inshore area of the Gulf of Maine as a result of a change in federal fishery regulations approved earlier this month.

Other kinds of gear, such as purse seine nets designed to catch pelagic species, will still be legal, causing some fishermen to cry foul because the hard limit for catching herring in Area 1A – 50,000 metric tons – remains in effect, meaning no more herring can be caught in Area 1A once that limit has been reached.

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