New At-Sea Monitoring Requirements Will Strengthen Accountability and Abundance of Groundfish Fishery in Northeast U.S. - Oceana USA

Victory | April 13, 2022

New At-Sea Monitoring Requirements Will Strengthen Accountability and Abundance of Groundfish Fishery in Northeast U.S.

In the United States, the National Marine Fisheries Service approved a final rule that requires all fishing in the New England (Northeast) groundfish fishery to be accompanied by professionally trained at-sea monitors or electronic systems to gather first-hand data about what is being caught and discarded at sea. This victory would not have been possible without Oceana and our allies, who campaigned for years for greater observer coverage levels for this fishery, which has suffered from decades of overfishing and excessive uncounted bycatch. This change is critical for the proper oversight of the 13 species in this fisheries management plan and will ensure that catch is counted and accounted for so that science-based catch limits can be properly set and enforced. Setting appropriate catch limits can in turn increase abundance in this important fishery.