Monkfish Limits to Increase for Fishermen Next Year

Fishermen from Bramante Seafood unload a haul of monkfish in Boston, Wednesday Aug. 9, 2006  (AP Photo/William B. Plowman)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishermen will likely be allowed to catch more monkfish next year.

Monkfish are a species of bottom-dwelling fish that are a popular item at restaurants and seafood markets. The regulatory New England Fishery Management Council has approved rules for the fishery that will allow fishermen to bring ashore more than 15,000 metric tons of the fish next year.

Fishermen have typically caught between 7,000 and 10,000 metric tons of monkfish annually since 2009.

The fishery council says fishermen harvested less of the fish than they were allowed in 2015. Some fishermen will be allowed slightly more days at sea next year.

Fishermen bring monkfish ashore from Maine to North Carolina. The majority of the fishery is based in Massachusetts.

Another regulatory council still must sign off on the new rules.