Conservationists are praising the decision, but Maine marine officials and lobstermen are expressing concerns.

Fishery regulators yesterday approved deep cuts in the allowable herring harvest next year. At a meeting yesterday in Newport, R.I., the New England Fishery Management Council voted to cut the overall herring catch from 145,000 metric tons allowed this year to 106,000 metric tons, according to NEFMC spokeswoman Pat Fiorelli. The new limits take effect early next year, according to the Portland Press Herald.

Maine marine officials say the cut will hurt the herring fishery as well as lobstermen who rely on the fish for bait. But conservationists are praising the decision. "While these cuts will provide a short-term economic challenge, they will allow the best chance of maintaining healthy herring populations for the short-, medium- and long-term," says Peter Baker, Atlantic Herring campaign manager for the Pew Environment Group, in a statement.

The council also decided to provide better monitoring of the herring fishery, to make sure large herring trawlers aren't inadvertantly catching depleted groundfish, such as cod.

Lobster industry representatives told the paper that the new catch limits on herring could result in a bait shortage and high bait prices. Scientists called for the limits because the health of the herring population is uncertain, the paper reports.