banning fishpots in Bermuda, the following editorial from Saturday's Providence, Rhode Island Journal-Bulletin shows why sensible controls on commercial fishing are vital: There are few more promising signs for our local fisheries than the recovery of the Atlantic herring, a fish that has returned from the brink. Two decades ago, overfishing ravaged the stocks of these small but ecologically important fish. After unrelenting pressure from supertrawlers, the fish all but disappeared.

But in recent years, herring have rebounded. Huge, shimmering schools now roam New England's offshore currents and ledges, a vital food source for depleted populations of tuna, swordfish, sharks, cod and other fish.

Of course, these vast schools have commercial value as well. Herring sell whole in developing nations, they can be ground into surimi or fishmeal, and they make fine lobster bait, sardines and pickled snacks. Fishermen sense a new product.

So it should come as no surprise that the international owners of factory trawlers have returned to New England, promising jobs, markets and profits to the region's ailing fishing villages.

...Considering the sad history, the prospect of supertrawlers fishing on Georges Bank has sent understandable ripples of alarm through local ports.

Two weeks ago, (Rhode Island) Senators John Chafee and Jack Reed introduced legislation that would ban temporarily the use of factory trawlers to harvest New England's herring. The legislation is a companion to a similar bill previously introduced in the House, with the support of both Representatives Patrick Kennedy and Robert Weygand.

Under these bills, fishing vessels longer than 165 feet would be prohibited from taking herring until the New England Fishery Management Council has approved rules governing the catch of these suddenly abundant fish.

Hopefully, when the council reports back with its proposed rules, it will ban factory trawlers altogether, leaving the fish for local boats and traditional fishermen.

Such a ban makes sense for many reasons. Two are irrefutable.

First, the New England fishing fleet already has too many boats chasing too few fish. The fleet is so oversized that, just last year, fishery managers adopted rules limiting the days that cod, haddock and flounder fishermen can spend on the water. Simultaneously, the US Commerce Department began spending $23 millon buying fishing vessels and removing them from the fishery. This is reason enough to ban factory boats -- it would be foolhardy in the extreme to have one branch of government spending taxpayer dollars to reduce the fleet while another allows an even more powerful group of vessels to start new enterprises.

But the second reason is just as compelling: Factory trawlers have a clear record of overharvesting. These vessels, which tow nets hundreds of yards wide, have been implicated in the destruction of many of the world's fish stocks, including Atlantic herring and Canadian cod.

As local fishery managers struggle to develop plans that balance the cultural and economic interests of traditional fishermen with the clear need for sustainablility, supertrawlers should be nudged out in favour of environmentally sound methods of fishing.

New England is fortunate to have its herring back. The recovery bodes well for the ecosystem, and should provide more local profits and jobs in the years ahead. Once a management plan is in place, fishermen certainly should seek new markets for herring, and perhaps even increase the current catch.