Monterey Bay Sardine fisherman are facing the fifth straight year of restrictions on the amount of fish they are permitted to catch. Opponents say this will create further hardships for commercial sardine fishermen.
The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates a sardine population of less than 28-thousand matric tons. The fisheries service considers Monterey Bay sardines to be overfished, a charge that fishing industry officials dispute,
The proposed restriction would effectively cancel the 2019-2020 sardine season. If the restriction is approved by the 12-member Pacific Fishery Management Council, it would go into effect with the new sardine season on July 1st.
