PORTLAND, Maine — One of the oldest fishing industries within the U.S. sank to a brand new low in catch final yr, signaling that efforts to rebuild the fishery nonetheless have an extended option to go.
New England fishermen have caught Atlantic cod for hundreds of years, however catch has dwindled over the past decade resulting from overfishing, restrictive fishing quotas and environmental adjustments. The overwhelming majority of the fish come to the docks in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.
Maine fishermen introduced fewer cod to the docks final yr than another in recorded historical past, state regulators mentioned earlier this month. The state’s catch, which was greater than 20 million kilos within the early Nineteen Nineties, was lower than 50,000 kilos final yr, state information present.
Cod are the fish of selection for fish and chips within the U.S., however the collapse of the business has left the nation depending on imports from nations corresponding to Iceland. Russia is one other main exporter, however the U.S. banned imports of Russian seafood because of the invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. fishing quotas for Atlantic cod are so low that almost all fishermen keep away from them altogether, mentioned Terry Alexander, a fisherman primarily based out of Harpswell, Maine. Those identical fishermen goal different species of bottom-dwelling whitefish corresponding to haddock and flounder.
“We can’t catch cod. The quota is so low that nobody could target cod. Nobody,” Alexander mentioned. “That’s how we’re going to handle it.”
The nationwide catch of Atlantic cod reached a low level in 2020 at about 1.6 million kilos.
Nationwide figures for 2021 haven’t but been assembled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which regulates U.S. fisheries. The nationwide Atlantic cod catch was properly over 100 million kilos per yr within the early Nineteen Eighties.
The collapse of the cod fishing business is a stark distinction to many of the remainder of Maine’s fishing business, which has grown in worth lately. Much of the expansion has come from the hovering worth of lobster, the state’s signature export.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”