Pandemic disrupted commercial fishing in Northeast, study finds

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted commercial fishing activities in the Northeastern U.S. and Mid-Atlantic, according to a new study.

Though many fishers suffered a decline in income, survey results -- published Thursday in the journal PLOS One -- suggest many were able to adapt and continue fishing through the market disruptions triggered by the pandemic.

With indoor dining services restricted across much of the country, restaurants have been especially hard hit by the pandemic's economic consequences. When restaurants falter, those that supply them suffer, too.

Between March and June, researchers at Rutgers University surveyed commercial fishers from Maine through North Carolina to find out how those who make their living on the water were coping as demand for fine dining dried up.

As many as two-fifths of the respondents temporarily stopped fishing as a result of the pandemic, according to the survey results.

Researchers also looked at data on fish landings and found squid and scallop hauls were down from last year. However, the data showed fishers were bringing in more black sea bass and haddock than in previous years -- species that are, perhaps, a bit easier to prepare at home.

"They may have kept fishing to pay their bills or crew, or to maintain their livelihoods or their quotas until markets rebound," lead study author Lindley Smith, a fisheries social scientist and postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University, said in a news release

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