New Monkfish Limits Laid Out

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Northeast office has announced it is easing limits on some monkfishing to partially make up for the severe loss of quota on groundfish stocks.

Depending on the permit category, there will be no limit on monkfish possession from May 1 to Oct. 27 and maybe beyond. The measure applies to the Northern fishery management area, which is everything north of Nantucket. The measure was requested by the New England Fishery Management Council as one means of easing the blow of sharp new restrictions on cod and yellowtail flounder.

The NOAA says that in recent years the monkfish fishery has failed to fully harvest the total allowable landings for each year and by providing increased fishing opportunities for monkfish in the area, they hope to mitigate the severe quota reductions for some groundfish species in 2013, with little risk of overfishing monkfish.