Panel passes restrictions on West Coast fishing to protect depleted species

News -
21 Jun 2002 - 18 Jan 2016
(FOSTER CITY, Calif.) A panel that oversees the West Coast's fishing grounds approved severe restrictions Thursday intended to protect several depleted species of fish.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to prohibit groundfish fishing in medium depths north of Cape Mendocino, about 200 miles north of San Francisco. South of the cape, groundfish trawling will be prohibited except for doversole, thornyhead, and sable fish.

Some fishers fear the proposed restrictions could endanger their livelihoods and force them to venture farther out to sea. But some said they were relieved that stiffer restrictions that had been considered were not approved.

""Everybody wishes it could be better, but it's the more acceptable of the two choices,"" Rod Moore, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, said after the vote.

Related Topics: Fishing capacity
Link: