Under heavy pressure, regulators vote 10-5 to roll back Northeast scallop cuts

Regulators roll back Northeast scallop cuts

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Northeast fisheries managers have rolled back sharp cuts in the scallop catch.

The 10-5 vote by the New England Fishery Management Council on Wednesday came after heavy pressure from politicians and fishing groups, who said the cuts were unneeded in a healthy scallop fishery.

The council’s original decision in November would have cut the number of fishing days from 37 to 29 this year. Scallopers said the cuts could cost up to $300,000 per boat.

The council originally said the short-term hit was needed to prevent overfishing and would be outweighed by greater long-term gain.

Council member David Pierce, who changed his vote, said science the council didn’t consider in its initial vote showed retracting the cut was no threat to stocks and a big benefit to fishermen.