HYANNIS, MA – The most recent stock assessment for Gulf of Maine haddock indicates that the resource is not overfished or subject to overfishing and, in fact, is projected to increase thanks to the recent addition of several large year classes to the population.
Jim Weinberg of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center presented these findings to the New England Fishery Management Council during its Sept. 30-Oct. 2 meeting here.
Unfortunately, this was the same meeting where the science center also presented stunning and very sobering Gulf of Maine cod developments (see Special Report pages 8-17), which completely overshadowed the refreshing and positive report for Gulf of Maine haddock.
Spawning stock biomass (SSB) in 2013 for Gulf of Maine haddock was estimated to be at 4,153 metric tons (mt), well above the minimum-required SSB threshold of 2,054 mt and even slightly above the SSB target of 4,108 mt, which is the level necessary for the stock to be at maximum sustainable yield…
Read the rest of this story and much, much more in the November issue of Commercial Fisheries News.
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