GMRI report: Plan for emerging fisheries in the Gulf of Maine

PORTLAND, ME – If fishery population centers keep trending northward due to warming water temperatures, and if quotas continue to be allocated based on historical landings, the summer flounder dilemma could extend to more stocks – Mid-Atlantic states having large quotas with low stock abundance and New England states having high stock abundance with low or no quotas.

That’s according to a report by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) titled “Preparing for Emerging Fisheries:  An Overview of Mid-Atlantic Stocks on the Move.”

The Gulf of Maine saw an emerging fishery in the summer of 2013 as longfin squid moved inshore.  Fishermen were able to get state harvest permits for the warm-water squid and packers found buyers all in a single summer.

The quick response of both the fishery and the market triggered this question among GMRI researchers:  If seven major species – summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, longfin and Illex squid, Atlantic mackerel, and butterfish – are moving north, what are the opportunities and limitations for emerging fisheries in the Gulf of Maine?

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Read the rest and much, much more in the November issue of Commercial Fisheries News.
Read online immediately and download for future reference.  

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