Photo by David Carkhuff Working along the Maine Wharf, scallop fisherman Mike Hanson repairs damage Wednesday from a mishap last week that could have caused him serious injury, he said. The 800-pound winch at left was pulled loose from the deck when his net caught on a reef near Long Island, where he was fishing for scallops. "It came flying out of the deck, it just missed me," Hanson said. "It was pretty hairy there for a minute." Usually busy lobstering, Hanson said he was fishing for scallops near Long Island, where he lives. The incident tore up pieces of the boat's deck. "I've been doing this for 35 years, that's the closest call I've had," Hanson said. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)
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New England Fishery Council reverses decision on scallop rules
Following almost six hours of presentations and discussions, the New England Fishery Management Council in an unprecedented action reversed a November 2009 decision about rules for harvesting sea scallops in 2010, the agency announced. The council’s action will give the East Coast scallopers nine more “open area” days-at-sea, along with the four “access area” trips that were also included in the November action, the council reported. The new action was approved in a 10-5 vote, with two
abstentions.
The council was swayed by elected officials and the testimony of fishermen who presented compelling economic arguments about the importance of profits to their businesses and communities during the next year, in view of the impacts of a serious recession, versus the long-term benefits that are expected to accrue after 2010, the council reported.
Council members this month agreed that the risk of overfishing, while higher with the choice approved on Jan. 27, was acceptable in terms of the economic costs associated with the alternative approved in late fall. Both choices were supported scientifically by the Council’s Scallop Plan Development Team, a group that provides technical advice to the council on management actions
that address rules that have and will apply to one of the region’s most lucrative fishery.
The New England Fishery Management Council, one of eight regional councils established by federal legislation in 1976, is charged with conserving and managing fishery resources from three to 200 miles off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
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