News Economic Impact
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New Model for Aquaculture Takes Hold Far from the Sea |
| Located on the Connecticut River, more than 80 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, Turners Falls, Massachusetts is an unlikely setting to rear a seagoing fish. But that is precisely what Josh Goldman, co-founder and CEO of Australis Aquaculture, is doing, using some of the most sustainable aquaculture techniques in existence today. | |||
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Scallops Ride to Rescue |
| Scallops account for New Bedford's status as the largest U.S. commercial fishing port in terms of value at $249 million in 2009, according to the latest federal fishery statistics. And scallops, unlike lobster, have proven remarkably recession proof with prices rising steadily through the downturn even as the amount caught held relatively steady. The wholesale price for a pound of the U.S. sea mollusk is $11.20, 41% higher than in November 2007. | |||
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Gloucester Mayor Kirk seeks $1M for loan fund |
| Mayor Carolyn Kirk has asked the U.S. Commerce Department, which had a team in Gloucester last month, to recapitalize the $1 million Fishermen's Loan Fund along with a suite of other investments to help the municipal "economy in transition." | |||
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Food & Water Watch Launches National Campaign Calling on Congress to End Catch Shares |
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Food and Water Watch press release: New Bedford, MA — June 16, 2011 -- Food & Water Watch launched a campaign calling on Congress to stop the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from further expanding a widely unpopular fisheries management program known as catch shares — a program that has resulted in job loss for thousands of fishermen across the United States. The national consumer advocacy group also released a report revealing that the number of catch share programs, which grant once-public access to fish to private interests, have increased by 150 percent (from 6 to 15) in the United States in less than a decade, while NOAA plans to expand the programs by an additional 33 percent in the next 5 years. “Fish are a public resource. Unfortunately, private investment groups and even some public interest groups have shamelessly and publicly compared access to fish to the stock market and are treating it like an investment that can be bought and sold for personal profit,” said Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch Executive Director. “They’re aiming to model the fishing business after big agribusiness on land, with giant commercial operations controlling the market.” A means to essentially privatize fishing, catch shares divide up the fish in any given region and grant access to certain companies and individuals — giving fishing privileges to fewer, often larger corporate interests while pushing out smaller-scale, more traditional fishermen. As a result, catch shares consolidate the fishing industry. According to the report, in 2010, about five months after a catch shares program began in New England, 55 of the initial 500 boats in the fishery controlled 61 percent of the revenue. The amount of fish given to a fisherman through a catch share program, also known as quota, is often leased out for profit rather than fished by the quota owner. Last year in New England, for example, 253 of the 500 boats remained docked, unable to fish because they were not granted enough quota and could not afford to purchase more. The New England catch share program prompted the cities of Gloucester and New Bedford, Mass., along with local fishermen and advocates, to file a suit challenging its legality. Additional lawsuits are ongoing in the Gulf of Mexico and, most recently, the Pacific Coast. "The massive loss of jobs within the fishing industry is directly correlated to the catch share program,” said Tina Jackson, President of the American Alliance for Fishermen and their Communities and a commercial fisherman and lobsterman herself. “It is vitally necessary for Congress to put forth legislation to halt any further programs of this nature and save the hundreds of thousands of jobs in the U.S. that will be lost if NOAA's national catch share policy is allowed to be implemented." Proponents of catch shares have argued that they help combat overfishing. According to the report, however, catch share programs have shown little evidence that they increase fish stocks. In Norway, cod stocks dropped to their lowest level ever in 2006 after years of catch shares management. Last April, amidst national concern over wasteful government spending, Congress voted to defund catch shares for fiscal year 2011. “We hope that Congress will continue in this sensible direction and defund catch shares permanently,” Hauter said. “The last thing our government should be doing during the recession is spending taxpayer dollars on a program that puts thousands out of work.” |
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One year into a new groundfishing management systems, some see progress, other inequality |
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Just over one year ago, New England’s groundfish fishery underwent what some describe as the most sweeping change since the enactment of the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act of 1976, the primary law governing management of the country’s marine fisheries. Last May, an amendment to the law transitioned the Northeast fishery away from the longstanding days-at-sea system, under which fishermen were allotted a certain number of days to fish in federal waters. In an attempt to revamp their approach toward rebuilding depleted fish stocks, federal regulators authorized fishermen to organize into sectors, voluntary groups that are allocated a share of the annual catch limit to divvy up among members as they see fit. Early reports indicate that fishermen are earning more money under the sector or “catch share” system despite catching lower volumes of fish, though regulators are hesitant to credit the sector model alone. Supporters say the system offers an economically and environmentally viable alternative to the days-at-sea model, but some argue that sectors have led to a greater concentration of catch share ownership among a few larger players. Terms more commonly used to describe trading in the global oil market are popping up, with critics citing the “commoditization” of the fishery and labeling large owners of catch share as “speculators.” Meanwhile, congressional action threatens future funding for catch share programs and a lawsuit makes its way through the Boston courts. |
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33 Fishing Community Members Say Permit Bank, Giacalone are pluses for Gloucester
This permit bank is a true local treasure for our fishing community and related businesses. Its existence has been one of the only positive things to come to this fishing community in decades.
