Fall Study of Cod Affirms Troubled State of Fishery

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

A survey of fish stocks completed last fall and released this month
by the National Marine Fisheries Service continues to identify Atlantic
cod as a depleted resource in need of help.

The cod was once the fish of choice in fish markets across New
England.

But despite severe cuts in fishing efforts and the closing of large
areas of Georges Bank and waters southeast of Martha's Vineyard,
signs of recovery are lacking.

Russell Brown, a chief scientist with the Northeast Fisheries
Science Center in Woods Hole, said the scarcity of cod on Georges Bank
in the fall survey is a trend that has remained unchanged over the last
four years.

"We don't see widespread distribution of the fish like
we did when there was higher abundance," Mr. Brown said.

The survey was done in September and October. Even though the
fisheries scientists used a fine mesh net and repeatedly took sample
tows day and night across the area they found no cod from Montauk Point,
all the way to the Nantucket Shoal buoy. The survey included the waters
off Block Island, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

The largest concentration of cod was found on the Canadian side of
the Hague Line, which is the northeastern edge of Georges Bank. The
scientists also found cod in the Gulf of Maine.

Mr. Brown qualified the survey results by saying that cod are
normally caught at the end of summer in cool waters. Cod are a
cold-water fish.

Yet, had there been an abundant population of cod, the stocks would
have been better distributed in the region.

If a fishermen had been allowed to look for cod last fall on Georges
Bank or around Martha's Vineyard, he wouldn't have found
many.

Cod, along with a host of other species, are managed by the New
England Fishery Management Council. The council is under harsh criticism
for failing to reduce fishing with new more restrictive management
measures.

John Pappalardo, a member of the council from Chatham, said this
week he is frustrated over management efforts to bring cod back.
"I think there are people who deep down don't believe they
can bring the fish back," he said.

"Everyone wants a magic bullet. Part of the fix has to be a
reduction, a comprehensive reduction in the capacity and number of
participants," Mr. Pappalardo said.

Mr. Pappalardo said ruling fishermen by regulation is too unfair. He
wants to see the federal government step up to the plate and help
fishermen get out of the business through a buy-out program. "Now
we are regulating fishermen on the margins of their business. They are
at the edge of the cliff. Each thing we do, we push people off the
cliff."

David Pierce, deputy director of the state Division of Marine
Fisheries, is also a member of the council. He is optimistic that cod
will be brought back and that there is good science to prove it.

"The Gulf of Maine is improving. Georges Bank is a different
story. I understand there are some positive signs, but it will remain
fairly severe for at least the next five years.

"I think the council has taken significant steps over the last
several years to reverse the decline and hopefully the fish will come
back," Mr. Pierce said.

Conservation organizations meanwhile are calling for more
restrictive measures and dispute the argument that the fisheries council
has done enough.

"We are extremely concerned about cod. The recent stock
assessment that came out last August and the fall survey suggest cod is
on the verge of collapse," said Priscilla Brooks of the
Conservation Law Foundation, a New England-based organization. "We
are not seeing conditions improve and that is very troubling. We need to
do anything humanely possible to bring those stocks back."

As much as 6,600 square miles of Georges Bank, about a third, is
already closed to fishermen. Fishermen are also limited to pursuing cod
or other groundfish to 50 days a year.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez
took emergency action to further reduce fishing in the region. He came
forward with a number of restrictive proposals that could be adopted by
the May 1 start of the 2006 fisheries management season.

This week, Mayor Scott W. Lang of New Bedford went to Washington,
D.C. this week to ask federal fisheries officials at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to seek alternatives to the
proposed regulations.

And Paul J. Diodati, director of the state Division of Marine
Fisheries, wrote a letter March 8 to Patricia A. Kurkul, the regional
administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, charging that
impact of the regulations is far in excess of what needs to be done.

For decades, the National Marine Fisheries Service has conducted a
survey twice a year of the waters off the Atlantic seaboard. The fall
survey was conducted by the 187-foot Research Vessel Albatross IV.

"In general the survey is extremely valuable tool for
understanding the status of the stocks, how successful they are
rebuilding. I think we are always hopeful," Mr. Brown said.

Another survey is to be conducted next month. Mr. Brown said:
"I am cheering for the fishing, hoping that we will detect a new
year class." That year class is comprised of fish spawned this
year.

"With some of these populations of fish we have to be patient.
We spent 25 to 30 years over exploiting these populations and we need to
be patient about their recovery."

Mr. Brown recalled that in 1995 there was an assessment on haddock
that was poor. At that time the estimate of haddock offshore was 10,000
metric tons.

"That was a historical low point for haddock, he said.
"At that time members of the fishery council felt that we
couldn't rebuild the stocks to 80,000 metric tons. My position
back then was until we try to reduce the fishing mortality, we will
never know if it is possible.

"Currently, the stock of haddock is in excess of 120,000
metric tons and still rebuilding," Mr. Brown said.

Mr. Pappalardo, a member of the council for four years, remains
skeptical about management efforts.

"It is very difficult," he said. "It seems like
just about every resource we manage is either stable or are
declining."