BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick is asking the federal government to raise the catch limit on a key fish stock.
In a letter today, Patrick asked U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to reset the catch limit on pollock “as high as possible while avoiding overfishing.”
Fishermen complain the pollock limit was set so low, they’ll quickly catch it and be forced out of the water for the rest of the year.
Pollock has become a key stock since tough new rules introduced strict catch limits for each Northeast groundfish species. If fishermen exceed their limit on one species, they must stop fishing for all species.
They’ve been pushing for an increase for months.
In his letter, Patrick cited preliminary results of a pollock study that indicate it’s not being overfished.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.