Plenty of blame to go around for the disastrous drop in Gulf of Maine cod
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Cape Cod Times] By Doug Fraser - October 1, 2014 -
HYANNIS, Back in July 2012, John Bullard was the newly minted Northeast regional director for the National Marine Fisheries Service. Soon after he took the reins, Bullard anguished over quota cuts of 77 percent for Gulf of Maine cod and 55 percent for Georges Bank cod, deemed necessary to rebuild those failing stocks.
"As difficult as that action was 18 months ago, it wasn't enough, and here we are back at the table with stocks headed towards zero," Bullard told the New England Fishery Management Council meeting at the Cape Codder Resort and Spa in Hyannis Tuesday. "We could make the argument that it was too little, too late.
Bullard placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of his agency, but said that the council and fishermen all had a hand in the collapse of cod stocks.
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