October 11th, 2016 — Dozens of commercial fishing boats were once docked along the New Hampshire coastline and trawled through the Gulf of Maine to drag in thousands of pounds of cod.
Today, only about five commercial ground fishermen remain active in New Hampshire. And as they continue to struggle with strict regulations on cod and other species of groundfish, many question the future of groundfishing in the Granite State.
One active ground fisherman, Neil Pike, said “there ain’t one.” He lives in Seabrook and fishes out of Hampton Harbor where he said there used to be 13 other fishing vessels docked next to his. Now, he said there are three and he owns two of them.
“There is no future,” Pike added as he looked out the window of his harborside home where his boats are docked.
Jamie Hayward, 42, a gillnetter who fishes out of Portsmouth, said he once had six or seven crew members and brought in more than twice the amount of income he is making today. Strict cod catch limits and added costs from the federal government, he said, forced him to shrink his business and take up fishing for lobster part-time to keep his business alive.
“There’s a few of us that are surviving on a lot less than what we generated (before),” Hayward said. “There aren’t a lot of people that are catching fish and making money. It’s just not happening.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the nation’s fisheries, cut cod quotas for ground fishermen by approximately 95 percent in the Gulf of Maine over the course of a few years leading up to this fishing year. NOAA researchers say cod stocks are dangerously low and require the restrictions to help them bounce back.
NOAA increased Gulf of Maine cod allocations by 30 percent this year, but fishermen say it is not nearly enough. The number of ground fishermen dropped from nine last year. Dan Salerno, who manages the fishing sector that includes New Hampshire, said the exact number of ground fishermen today is hard to pin down as people change their status throughout the year. Some are waiting to fish their quota until the end of the year and are remaining inactive until then.