U.S. New England Groundfish Management Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Thalassorama‪)‬

Introduction The U.S. New England groundfish fishery exploits demersal marine groundfish resources off the U.S. east coast from Maine to Virginia. This fishery has been an important source of jobs and income for coastal communities in the Northeast region, in particular, New England. However, the fishery resource base has declined to an all-time low in the last three decades. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) research trawl vessel surveys have documented a declining trend in the abundance of this groundfish resource from 1963 to the present (USDC 1995). The potential benefit of successful management is great: "Overall groundfish landings were one-third the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). Landings for haddock and yellowtail flounders were one-tenth the MSY. If the abundance of groundfish were rebuilt to provide MSY, the catch could increase by two to three times with one-half of the present effort" (Anthony 1993). The potential gains in resource rents and consumer benefits from efficient exploitation of the New England groundfish resources by the commercial fishing industries was estimated to be roughly $130 million and $20 million a year respectively (Edwards and Murawski 1993).