Maine
Maine shuts down pogy fishing for the season
Mainers have solely till Sunday to fish for a preferred lobster bait fish earlier than the fishery closes for the season.
Fishermen hit their quotas for pogies again in June, however have been in a position on a restricted foundation since early July proceed to catch as much as 6,000 kilos of the fish a day, in response to the Portland Press Herald.
Now even that restricted catch will come to an finish Sunday, elevating considerations amongst lobstermen as they face extra pressures from excessive gas prices and inflation, the Press Herald reported. After Sunday, solely noncommercial fishermen will likely be allowed to catch as much as 1,050 kilos a day.
Proper now, Maine has 0.52 % of the general quota for the East Coast, simply barely above the 0.5 % minimal quota that’s obtainable to each state within the area.
Final 12 months, Maine fishermen hauled in an estimated 22 million kilos of pogies — or menhaden — price about $9.5 million. That compares with 27 million kilos price about $7 million in 2020, in response to the Portland newspaper.
Pogies have turn into more and more well-liked as different conventional bait fish like herring succumb to overfishing.
Regardless of the closure, a brand new proposal, launched earlier this week, would open up extra fishing in Maine. Minimal allocations might be performed on a tiered scale primarily based on harvests going again to 2009. The fee may additionally shift the time-frame that allocations are primarily based upon to more moderen years, which might give Maine a lift due to its elevated landings.
Below the latter choice, Maine’s baseline allocation would go from 0.5 % to nearly 5 %, permitting fishermen so as to add hundreds of kilos of pogies to their haul with out leaping by hoops wanted to get extra quota.
These modifications goal to bridge the hole between current allocations and the truth of what fishermen are seeing alongside the coast.