A 14-year effort by U.S. fisheries managers to rebuild badly depleted stocks of Atlantic cod has made little progress, as overfishing has continued and bottom trawling destroys habitat for juvenile cod. Federal fisheries scientists presented that assessment Wednesday to the New England Fisheries Management Council, the regulatory body charged with managing stocks of cod, haddock, and other fish. The scientists said that cod populations off the famed Georges Bank are only at 12 percent of the level needed to maintain a healthy stock and that cod populations in the Gulf of Maine are at 58 percent of sustainable levels. A multi-year management effort is failing because of overfishing, destructive bottom trawling, and the loss of 20 percent of the Georges Bank cod population as wasted “bycatch,” the scientists said. An official with the conservation group Oceana called the scientists’ report an urgent “wake-up call” to overhaul cod management.
U.S. Cod in Deep Trouble
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