Proposed offshore fishing rules could open some closed areas
The National Marine Fisheries Service has released the proposed Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment which, if enacted, could mean big changes in how the government manages commercial fishing in the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and southern New England waters.
The Times Record reported the amendment includes proposed rules that would affect the way valuable species such as scallops and haddock are harvested, in part by opening certain areas that have been closed to fishing those species since the 1990s.
“We can highlight the areas that are most vulnerable, and allow fishing to occur to successfully in areas that are less vulnerable,” Moira Kelly, a NMFS senior fisheries program specialist, told the paper.
Some environmentalists raised objections to the proposal. “To let destructive fishing gears into those areas will knock down that ecological function and cause harm to our ocean ecosystem,” said Gib Brogan, fishery campaign manager for Oceana.
It’s expected that NMFS will issue a decision on the new rules by early January.
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