The population of groundfish off the coast of New England has been depleted for years. In 1994 nearly all fishing was banned from waters identified as spawning grounds and sanctuaries for cod, haddock, and other groundfish in order to give groundfish a chance to rebound from overfishing.
Herring mid-water trawlers were initially banned from the groundfish-closed areas in 1994. But in 1998 federal regulators decided to re-open these areas to trawlers, based on an assumption that the herring ships would catch little or no groundfish in their nets. As a result of this loophole in the regulations, it's estimated that these vessels have caught hundreds of thousands of pounds of mature and juvenile groundfish as bycatch.
Earthjustice has filed suit on behalf of local fishing groups to force federal regulators to close this loophole.
Press Releases
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
All fish must be brought onboard and documented by federal observers
Monday, July 26, 2010
Maine fishermen seeking to stop industrial trawl ships from entering fish sanctuaries
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Finalizes FOIA lawsuit settlement after months of government stalling
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Public input now allowed in response to commercial groundfishermen lawsuit
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Fishermen seek truth in management of industrial herring fleet
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Allows ships to decimate groundfish populations
Saturday, June 20, 2009
File legal brief supporting groundfishermen efforts to protect breeding grounds
Friday, February 27, 2009
Troubled by agency inaction while bycatch incidents mount, group proceeds with lawsuit
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
New report exposes risk posed by mismanagement of large-scale fleet, proposes solutions
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Cod, haddock threatened by industrial trawlers in spawning grounds
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