Cod Fishing Restrictions Up For Vote This Week

Federal regulators will consider emergency restrictions to the Gulf of Maine's cod fishery this week.

The New England Fishery Management Council will consider the restrictions at its meeting in Hyannis, Massachusetts this week. The three-day meeting begins on Tuesday and concludes Thursday. Officials say the restrictions will most likely come up for debate on Wednesday.

The council's Groundfish Oversight Committee last month recommended a battery of changes. One restriction would limit fishing by private recreational and charter boats. The committee also recommends new prohibitions on some commercial groundfishing vessels, and requests a review of the extent of cod bycatch in the lobster fishery.

Regulators say the amount of cod spawning in the Gulf is estimated at only 3 to 4 percent of its target level.