Welcoming Agreement on Cod Stocks

Press Release

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree urged regulators to adopt a sensible plan that saves fishing jobs

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said today that fisheries regulators have agreed to catch limits for cod in the Gulf of Maine that avoid dramatic cuts that would have threatened many fishermen.

"I urged regulators to work with fishermen and come up with a plan that protects codstocks but doesn't drive fishermen out of business. I'm pleased to see they agreed to an intermediate approach," Pingree said.

After stock assessments showed a decline in the cod population last year, regulators were set to reduce the allowable catch in the Gulf of Maine to 1,500 metric tons. Pingree wrote to NOAA officials and urged them to work with the fishing industry and environmental groups. Pingree said the result is a catch limit for cod of 6,700 metric tons, which was officially announced today.

"There need to be reasonable measures to protect the cod population, but the dramatic cuts we were looking at were sudden and wouldn't have given fishermen time to prepare for the change in limits," Pingree said.

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute is coordinating a comprehensive study of the cod stocks to help with future planning and quotas.

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