WORKING WATERFRONT • October 5, 2026
For the first time, federal regulators have set catch limits for the Atlantic cod fishing season based on new rules that group the fish into four populations. The revised catch limits bulletin, which NOAA Fisheries published in early August, is the culmination of a long regulatory process to shift cod management from two populations to four. The populations are now grouped as eastern Gulf of Maine, western Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and southern New England cod. Previously, the cod were divided only into Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank populations. Ben Martens, executive director of Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, said the shift should better align with what fishermen have long observed about cod behavior in the Gulf of Maine.