WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME) applauded an announcement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the Maine Fisherman’s Forum today that it will attempt to cover one hundred percent of at-sea monitoring costs for the Northeast ground fishery during the upcoming fishing year, beginning this May. The at-sea monitoring program analyzes the fishing area as well as the catch and gear type in order to monitor sector quotas. NOAA had previously announced that such costs would be covered by the fishermen themselves while the New England Fishery Management Council had also imposed new rules that massively reduced catch limits.

The announcement also follows a letter that was sent by Senator King and fellow members of the New England Congressional Delegation to John Bullard, the Northeast Regional Administrator for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Services, urging him to support actions to mitigate the impact of looming reductions to the projected allowable harvest of groundfish in New England. 

Senator King, who will be attending the Maine Fisherman’s Forum tomorrow, said:

“This announcement is welcome news for Maine’s groundfish industry.  Maine’s fishermen are important to our state’s economy, landing five million pounds of groundfish valuing almost $5.8 million in Maine just last year. At the same time, they’ve also endured incredible hardship over the past few years, experiencing massive reductions in catch limits that threaten the industry’s future.  I’m pleased that NOAA will help to alleviate some of the financial burden placed on Maine’s groundfish industry, but make no mistake, there is still much work left to be done.”

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