Haddock, Quotas, and the Politics of Science

The Gulf of Maine haddock story is a rare case where the science was embraced—right up until the quota tightened. Haddock, the unglamorous workhorse behind New England’s scrod habit, can deliver boom year classes that remake a fishery, and the tension snapped when haddock became limiting at the exact moment fishermen felt surrounded by fish. Alternative narratives surged—most notably a spillover theory from Georges Bank—but the evidence wouldn’t carry them. The real turning point was simpler and more powerful: new, home-grown Gulf of Maine year classes entered the population, the numbers finally caught up, and quotas rose. Just as quickly, the controversy drained away—revealing how often “trust in science” hinges not on the methods, but on whether the answer hurts.