The first year of Northeast groundfishing with the industry operating as a commodities market saw catch shares shifting from the smaller boats and businesses to the better capitalized ones, the NOAA Science Center confirmed in a new report issued Tuesday.
Allocations exceeded catch totals in the three smallest vessel size categories, while — in the category of the biggest boats — catch exceeded allocation, constituting a "broad shift" of catch shares into the largest and wealthiest hands, according to the team of nine social scientists who crafted their final report on the groundfishery.
The authors also reported seeing signs of port transformation.
With the system favoring larger scale businesses, crew members reported "lower income under sector management," the scientists reported.
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