ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the situation for the Northeast Shelf Ecosystem, with emphasis on Georges Bank. It provides a brief description of fishery resource productivity as well as energy flow within the fish community. The chapter describes the biological basis for management of the important multispecies demersal fishery resource and how the fishery has responded to management. It identifies potential future courses of action that should be considered to improve the resource situation and the fishery. Research vessel bottom-trawl surveys confirm the decline in abundance of the principal groundfish and flounders that are exploited by the trawl fishery. The demise of the bottom-trawl fishery began with excessive fishing pressure from a combination of foreign and domestic vessels prior to Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MFCMA). The pelagic resource recovered from overfishing that occurred prior to MFCMA. Regulations that are effective in reducing fishing mortality will force many vessels to leave the fishery for groundfish and flounders.
