Some of New England’s embattled cod fishermen say they might go out of business because of a new cost the federal government is imposing on them Tuesday.

Under new rules, fishermen of important commercial species such as cod and haddock must pay the cost of fishing monitors, who collect data to help determine future fishing quotas. The cost of the monitor service can run as high as $700 per day.

The federal government had been paying the bill, but fishing regulators say there isn’t enough money to do so anymore because of other obligations within the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Fishermen, advocates for the industry and a host of New England politicians have said the cost will sink a fleet already struggling with tight catch quotas and dwindling cod populations. Some fishermen also say a cutback in fishing by New England’s fleet could make popular food species, including flounder, hake and pollock, less available to consumers.

“Somebody’s got to catch it,” said Terry Alexander, a Harpswell fisherman who is trying to manage the new cost. “We’re going to have to figure our way around it. The law is the law.”

The shift in cost is happening at a time when scientists say the cod stock off New England has collapsed. The Atlantic cod catch sometimes topped 100 million pounds per year in the 1980s, but it fell to about 5 million in 2013 and 2014. Catch quotas have plummeted in that time.

The fishing monitors will accompany New England’s groundfishermen 20 percent of the time.The change has been the subject of a lawsuit filed by fishermen in federal court in Concord, New Hampshire, who want to block the cost shift. A judge is expected to rule in about a week.


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