WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) January 23, 2014 — NOAA Fisheries today released the third annual report on the economic performance of the vessels active in the Northeast groundfish fishery. The report covers fishing year 2012.
As a consequence of quota reductions for a number of groundfish stocks, landings and revenues were lower in 2012 than in 2011. Landings fell by 5.4 percent and revenues by 7.7 percent. For groundfish these figures are at four-year lows with landings off by 24 percent and revenues by 22.9 percent. There were fewer active vessels, fewer and slightly longer trips, and a continued concentration of revenues onto the highest-earning vessels.
As was also the case in the prior year reported, 2011, more than half of the available quota was not harvested. While some in the regulatory and environmental communities have blamed a lack of fish for the inability of fishermen to catch their quotas, industry members cite conflicting or badly-designed regulations and “choke stocks," also known as choke species, that cause fishing to cease on other species when the choke stock’s quota is reached.
In home port states Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island, all indicators of crew employment were at four year lows in 2012.
Read the full report at NOAA Fisheries