The New England Fisheries Management Council is considering actions to address the apparent increase in consolidation fueled by the transition to the sector form of catch shares adopted in New England. The use of sectors allowed the council and NOAA to avoid a referendum which would have been required under the Magnuson Act to implement a true quota system. The sector system is close to, but legally just shy of being a quota system.
The New England Fisheries Management Council is considering actions to address the apparent increase in consolidation fueled by the transition to the sector form of catch shares adopted in New England. The use of sectors allowed the council and NOAA to avoid a referendum which would have been required under the Magnuson Act to impAccording to the report by fisheries analyst Anne Hawkins on Jan. 27, three permit owners had gained control over 41 percent of Georges Bank winter flounder, which is a so-called "choke" species, while three entities also owned 25 percent of one other stock which was not named and 10 percent to 20 percent of 11 other stocks.
SeafoodNews.com editor and publisher John Sackton reported Tuesday that the concentrated ownership of Georges Bank winter flounder gives the dominant owners potential gatekeeper control on who gets to fish the rest of the stocks on Georges.
But Vito Giacalone, policy director for the Northeast Seafood Coalition, said he believed the large owners of catch share quota were longstanding participants in the groundfishing industry and should not be thought of as speculators.
Tom Nies, the council's chief fisheries analyst, advised its members in Portsmouth that the creation of a control date did not mean the government was implicitly affirming the sanctity of allocation acquired before such date.lement a true quota system. The sector system is close to, but legally just shy of being a quota system.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.