GLOUCESTER, Mass. — It’s been a year and a half since the fishing industry in Massachusetts experienced a radical change: new regulations on the number of fish fishermen are allowed to reel in.
“The requirement now to have access to capital and be a brilliant businessman now trumps your skills as a fisherman,” said Vito Giacalone, the policy director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition and a part-time fisherman. “And that, to me, sucks, I think. That’s the part that kind of kills the fishing game.”
Giacalone, who was was active in trying to help Gloucester’s fishing industry adapt to the new system, is frustrated that his fellow fishermen in the city received low allocations. Up and down the coast, as many as two-thirds of Massachusetts fishermen were allocated fewer fish under catch shares than they caught in the years just before the program started, according to the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute.
“Some excellent fishermen who are also very good businessmen are saying, ‘My God, knowing what I know and as much as I love fishing, do I really want to extend myself financially beyond where I’m at?’” Giacalone said. “Because that’s really the choice you’re given right now. Either you super-extend yourself and be successful, or you liquidate.”
Early numbers suggest that Gloucester’s fishing industry is consolidating as fewer boats catch more of the fish.
To NOAA, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Kurkul says having too many boats fishing in the Northeast contributed to the over-fishing of local species in the first place.
“Over time, we will see this equalization between what the resource can support and the number of vessels out there, and we’ll see much healthier fishing vessels out there,” Kurkul said. “A healthier resource is going to lead to healthier fishing businesses and healthier fishing communities. So, we’re still in a transition, but that will be the end result of this.”
NOAA expects to have a final report on the first year of catch share sometime this fall.
Read the complete story from Boston's WBUR