UNIT 1 

 NORTHEAST DEMERSAL FISHERIES 



ing depleted, while For others (e.g. goosefish), re- 

 cent landings have been well in excess ot their long- 

 term maximum as a consequence of overexploita- 

 tion. Most of these stocks are managed implicitly 

 with other species included in various fishery man- 

 agement plans. For example, white hake, goosefish, 

 cusk, wolffish, and Atlantic halibut are taken in 

 various groundfish fisheries regulated under the 

 Northeast Multispecies Fisheries Management 

 Plan. Scup and black sea bass represent major com- 

 ponents of the summer flounder directed fishery, 

 and those three species are managed under a single 

 fishery management plan. Weakfish, a stock that 

 has responded well to management controls (un- 

 der an ASMFC fishery management plan) has ex- 

 perienced a recent substantial decline in fishing 

 mortality and increase in stock biomass (North- 

 cast Fisheries Science Center, 1998a, b). 



In recent years, goosefish has become one ot 

 the most important species in the Northeast re- 

 gion. U.S. landings increased from a yearly aver- 

 age of around 300 t during 1964-72 to about 

 8,800 t during 1980-88, and then continued to 

 climb to a record high of 28,800 t, valued at $35 

 million, in 1997 making it the top-ranked dem- 

 ersal species in both landings and value in the 

 Northeast region. The recent average yield was 

 27,900 t (Table 1-1). This dramatic increase in 

 landings resulted from a diversion of fishing el- 

 fort and attention caused by the decline in abun- 

 dance of the principal groundfish and flounders 

 as well as increased market demand and prices. As 

 a consequence, goosefish abundance has dropped 

 to low levels and the stock is now overexploited 

 (Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 1997a,b). The 

 growth of this fishery has prompted developrhent 

 of regulations to control both landings and the 

 size ol fish landed. Since landings occur both from 

 directed fishing (primarily by otter trawls and 

 gillnets) and as bycatch from fishing directed to- 

 wards many other species, regulatory measures be- 

 ing developed under a joint New England Coun- 

 cil and Mid-Atlantic Council Goosefish Fishery 

 Management Plan are extensive and complicated. 



_^ . ^ Southern 



^,. .^-^ New England 



•^"^^^^^^ Nantucket Lightship 



Closed Area - 



ISSUES 



Management Concerns 



L'ntil the early 1990's, New t^^ngland ground- 

 fish harvests were regulated by indirect controls 

 on fishing mortality, such as mesh and minimum 

 fish size restrictions and some area closures. How- 

 ever, as a result of litigation filed by the Conserva- 

 tion Law Foundation and the Massachusetts 

 Audubon Society, which significantly raised pub- 

 lic awareness and concern and stimulated demands 

 lor strong action to eliminate overfishing and re- 

 store depleted stocks of cod, haddock, and yel- 

 lowtail flounder, regulatory measures since 1994 

 have been more stringent and focused. Amend- 

 ment 3 to the NEFMC's Multispecies Fishery 

 Management Plan, implemented in March 1994, 

 marked the beginning of an etlort reduction pro- 

 gram to address the requirement to eliminate the 

 overfished condition of cod and yellowtail floun- 

 der in 5 years and haddock in 10 years. The regu- 

 latory package included a moratorium on new 

 vessel entrants, a schedule of reduction in days at 

 sea for trawl and gillnet vessels, increases in regu- 

 lated mesh size, and expanded closed areas to pro- 



Figure 1-3 



Areas closed year-round to 

 protect New England ground- 

 fish. 



93 



