Fishery Officials Restrict Gulf of Maine Cod Catch

Fishery officials have approved a plan to close a huge section of the Gulf of Maine to fishing in an attempt to replenish once-abundant cod stocks, a move that could ground thousands of commercial fishermen.

The New England Fishery Management Council voted Thursday to close a swath of ocean extending about 30 miles from the coast from Cape Cod Bay to the border of New Hampshire and Maine. Scallop fishermen are exempt from the ban.

The new limits will be phased in starting in March. The council also voted to cut the daily cod catch from 400 pounds per boat to 200 pounds elsewhere in the Gulf of Maine.

The restricted area will be divided into three sections, to be closed one at a time on a rolling basis during the height of the fishing season, from March to July.

Faced with the loss of their livelihood, dozens of fishermen from the New England coast testified passionately for hours Thursday about what severe cutbacks could mean.

Some fishermen became so irate that police officers were called in to stand guard at the hearing in a Portsmouth, N.H., hotel.

The possible restrictions could prompt regional economic losses ranging from $19.9 million to $21.8 million, according to an estimate in a council analysis completed this week. As many as 2,500 fishermen could be out of work and 700 boats could be idled.