Fishermen and conservationists alike are criticizing new commercial fishing regulations designed to help New England fish stocks.

Maine fishermen say the new rules, which went into effect Saturday, are too restrictive and will put many of them out of business. The new rules limit many fishermen to no more than 52 unrestricted days of fishing over the next 12 months while closing fishing grounds and limiting catches.

Peter Innis, who owns a 42-foot boat, hopes to be one of the survivors. He is counting on other income, from construction to lobstering, to get him through.

“How can you make it on 50 days a year? It’s impossible,” he said.

But conservationists say the regulations, known as Amendment 13, do not immediately end overfishing as required by law. They say the rules also don’t meet the legal requirements to protect fish habitats and stop the discarding of dead fish.

“We are very disappointed that Amendment 13 allows overfishing to continue on five of the groundfish stocks,” said Geoff Smith of the Ocean Conservancy.

The new regulations are supposed to speed up the recovery of populations of haddock, cod, flounder and other groundfish species that were depleted by overfishing. Some of the fish populations have been growing in recent years, while others have not yet rebounded.

The regulations were devised after U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled in December 2001 that the government wasn’t doing enough to stop overfishing. Fishermen protested, arguing the science used to count fish stocks was flawed and fish stocks were healthier than believed.

The Portland Fish Exchange expects fishermen to bring about 18 million pounds of fish – down from 22 million pounds – to its fish auction in the coming year. General Manager Hank Soule is budgeting for a $120,000 loss.

Soule said the long-term future for Maine’s industry is murky, but it seems clear the fleet will continue to shrink in the near future.

“There’s no doubt about that,” he said.

But legal challenges from conservation groups, or from the fishing industry, could send the matter back to federal court and reignite the debate over the regulations.

“I think everybody is still reading through the final rule,” Smith said. “We have not made any decisions on going back to court or not.”