Haddock is back

Bobby Guzzo explains to me the ten-year time frame to rebuild New England fish stocks.  “Haddock is already back, and we’re only six years into the program.  Believe me, I’m seeing a lot of fish out there.  But if we continue for a full ten years to renew the stock?  Well. we’ll probably have a lot of fish, but there will be no men left who know how to fish for them.” 

I attend a state of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection public hearing to learn more.  Fishing stocks are on he decline throughout the world.  Some biologists estimate current fish populations are only ten percent of their historic levels.  Even though the United States imports 60 percent of its fish, the American fishing industry is still a multi-billion dollar operation.

As usual, even a dire environmental situation has its skeptics.  Fishermen sit on one side of the room; conservationists on the other.  The DEP representative sits behind a table.  In front of him is a seventeen-page document.  To facilitate discussion, every line in the report has a number, 711 lines in all.  Each line specifies new mandates for species, poundage, and seasonal time  limits.  With strict quotas on popular types of fish such as cod and flounder already in place, fishermen look to diversify into other species.  Horseshoe crabs and spiny dogfish are discussed at length. 

Horseshoe crabs!  Who can take this strange arthropod as a serious crop?  The creature looks more like a small brown tank than a regular crab.  But local fishermen harvest 32,000 of the annually, a large number but well under the 48,000 allowed by the State.