The New England Fishery Management Council voted last week to limit both the scope and size of the commercial herring catch for the next three years.

Important changes came last week in the effort to bring cod back to New England waters.

The New England Fishery Management Council at its meeting in Plymouth established a protective zone for juvenile cod in the Great South Channel.

While it will take up to three years to come up with protective rules for that area, the decision sets aside a portion of open ocean where it is known that undersized fish need to be protected.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and the New England Fishery
Management Council (NEFMC) have come under harsh attack from a number of
different environmental organizations for not having done enough to
protect fish stocks.