With the start of the prime commercial fishing season just weeks away, New England groundfishermen still have no idea what rules they’ll have to follow. They don’t know whether they’ll be able to fish at all, or, if they can, where and how often.

“The stress level is unbelievable,” said Barbara Stevenson, who owns three vessels that fish out of Portland. “You can’t plan.”

The stress level increased this week, when five days of mediation between fishing groups, conservationists and state and federal officials failed to resolve a federal lawsuit over what measures should be taken to stop the overharvesting of groundfish species such as cod and haddock.

The talks collapsed Wednesday after the parties appeared close to reaching a resolution the day before. Those involved in the mediation, including Maine officials and fishermen, are barred from talking about details by a court order.

However, officials did say that talks are continuing in hopes that an agreement can be reached rather than having a solution imposed by a federal judge.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by a coalition of environmental groups that charged the National Marine Fisheries Service was not doing enough to stop the overfishing of New England’s groundfish stocks.

Judge Gladys Kessler agreed with the plaintiffs and ruled that NMFS has violated federal law by not protecting the fish. She then asked the parties to the lawsuit to come up with solutions. The proposed remedies have ranged from quotas on the number of fish that can be caught to limits on the number of days fishermen can spend at sea to net modifications so young fish can escape.

Now that there is no agreement, Kessler said she will issue a ruling by May 1, the start of fishing season.

In case the judge isn’t done in time, NMFS is going ahead with making formal new rules that it first presented to the court in March. The rules would cut in half – to 22 – the number of days fishermen can spend at sea from May to October. They also would put areas of the Atlantic off-limits to fishing.

Fishermen have called the rules “cyanide,” arguing they would kill the industry.

Under the specter of such rules becoming reality, the parties to the lawsuit are continuing to talk informally to come up with a more palatable solution.

“I can’t help with the time issue,” said George LaPointe, commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources. “But, I can do whatever possible to try to ensure that whatever comes out in May as is good as possible for the resource and the industry.”

One of the conservation groups that originally filed the lawsuit is also worried about the impact of a court decision on the state’s fishermen. That’s why the Conservation Law Foundation, which is based in Boston and has an office in Rockland, has parted ways with the other plaintiffs and is now involved in the lawsuit on its own, said Peter Shelley, an attorney for the group.

The other plaintiffs are the Audubon Society, The Ocean Conservancy, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“We all know how severe the impacts of the federal [proposed rules] will be on Maine,” Shelley said Thursday.

That’s why he said the parties still are working hard to reach a resolution to the matter.

In the meantime, “people can’t do anything but worry,” he said.

While fishermen have strenuously objected to the NMFS proposal, as well as that from the conservation groups to put quotas on the number of fish that can be caught, the judge warned that her solution may be no more appealing.

She said that “if it’s her remedy, somebody will be disappointed,” said Teri Frady, a spokesman for NMFS.

A group of fishermen, many of whom are from Maine, proposed that groundfishing areas be divided into zones overseen by councils along the lines of Maine’s highly praised lobster management system.

In the meantime, fishermen wait and worry.

Stevenson said the mate of one of her boats was standing near her “wondering what to do after the next trip” out to sea.

“I don’t believe there’s a painless solution,” she said.