NOAA Fisheries has taken emergency action to ensure the Northeast multispecies commercial fishery starts on time 1 May, while delaying a controversial change to how the fishery’s cod stocks are managed.
Faced with depleted staff levels due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s blunt efforts to shrink the federal workforce, the government has struggled to approve fishery regulations in a timely manner this spring. The Northern Gulf of Maine scallop fishery was only able to start on time with a default quota in place, but the commercial season had to pause for 10 days as commercial fishers waited for federal regulators to approve the higher quota passed by the New England Fishery Management Council in December 2024. In Alaska, only interventions from the state’s two senators were able to secure final approvals for the state’s black cod and halibut seasons on time.
With the Northeast multispecies commercial fishery slated to open on 1 May, the federal government has still not approved Framework Adjustment 69, which sets regulations for the region’s groundfishing stocks such as cod, haddock, flounder, hake, and pollock. To ensure the fishery can start on time, NOAA Fisheries has signed a temporary rule that will allow the fishery to start 1 May while regulators secure final approval for Framework Adjustment 69.
The emergency rule is effective for 180 days, and it can be extended for up to 186 additional days.
The emergency rule also delays one of the most controversial changes adopted by the New England Fishery Management Council in December 2024. The council had proposed significant changes to how the fishery’s cod stocks are managed, splitting the region’s two cod stocks into four cod stocks – the Eastern Gulf of Maine, Western Gulf of Maine, Southern New England, and Georges Bank stocks – each with their own catch limits. The switch had been opposed by commercial fishers, who claimed the low catch limits in some areas would be devastating to their fishing practices.
“These restrictions are going to be the end of the trawlers and anyone else buying fish,” New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association CEO Jerry Leeman said in a statement. “Everyone in the fisheries expects Addendum 25 to torpedo their businesses.”
New England fishers have won a brief reprieve, with NOAA Fisheries claiming it would be too difficult to implement the cod stock changes for the 2025 season. Instead, NOAA Fisheries will move forward with just two stocks of cod this year.
“Transitioning management in the middle of the fishing year from two stock units of cod to the four stock units would be challenging for fishery participants and NMFS,” the agency noted in its announcement. “Other measures included in Framework 69, if approved, would be implemented during fishing year 2025.”
