BOSTON — Federal officials enacted a severe but not catastrophic cut in the cod catch for the Gulf of Maine on Monday, suspending the threat of collapse for New England’s cod fishing industry.

The 22 percent cut from what fishermen were allowed to catch last year will take effect May 1.

The reduction will cause major problems for the industry, but fishermen had said an 85 percent reduction was possible after new data indicated that cod was in worse condition than previously thought. Such a large cut would have obliterated the traditional New England fleet.

The measure filed Monday in the federal register buys time for regulators and fishermen to find some way to avoid devastating cuts, which appear certain in 2013.

Federal officials said they will do a new assessment of the health of cod, including a more accurate way to count how many cod recreational fishermen are catching.

But Bill Karp, acting director of the federal Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said in a conference call Monday that regulators don’t expect the new assessment to make a “profound difference.”

Fishermen are deeply skeptical of the findings, saying they contradict what they see at sea and even recent government science. They point to a 2008 study that indicated that Gulf of Maine cod were robust and headed for full recovery.

Last year, scientists released data that indicated the fish were recovering so slowly that even if fishermen didn’t catch a single cod through 2014, the population wouldn’t rebuild to federally mandated targets by then.

Jackie Odell of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, a Gloucester-based industry group, said Monday that everyone must commit to learning the true status of the stock.

“It’s nothing personal, but either the new assessment is dead wrong or the old assessment was dead wrong,” Odell said. “There are a number of crucial scientific questions that must be answered.”

The cut announced Monday reduces the allowed cod catch from 8,500 metric tons in the 2011 fishing year to 6,700 metric tons this fishing year, which starts May 1.

Regulators had been considering a cut to 1,300 metric tons, or even a shutdown, to comply with federal fishery laws. Instead, they chose an option that essentially allows them to end overfishing of cod in two years instead of one.

 

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