Mr. Howe believes this brings fish into Buzzards Bay. But Mr. Howe believes it is mostly the absence of trawling that makes it easier for fish to thrive in the bay. When a trawl comes up from the bottom, you get grasses, sponges as well as fish in the net. That has to be good for the species inhabiting the area. The main concerns in Nantucket Sound as well as Buzzards Bay are declines in scup, black sea bass and fluke.
Managers blame overfishing for the declines.
Scup took a nose dive from 1982 to 1997, according to both state and federal managers as fishermen shifted from the more traditional groundfish to scup. This decline was seen in the annual surveys and prompted the state to limit catches and ban night fishing in Nantucket Sound. Fishermen were finding it easier to catch large amounts of scup after dark when the fish dove to the bottom to feed and were much easier to scoop up in otter trawl nets. State and federal fish managers also clamped down on fluke as they saw the numbers decline. Our spring surveys for the last three or four years have shown some increases.