November 15, 2011 –Citing new scientific studies showing that "catch shares have had a devastating impact on the commonwealth's groundfish fishery," Gov. Deval Patrick today asked for a federal disaster declaration and $21 million in assistance.
"Federal regulations and management policies have caused a significant consolidation of the groundfish fleet, loss of jobs and reduced revenues — all of which have combined to create a fisheries resource disaster," the governor wrote.
The request, echoing one made a year ago that was rejected by previous Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, went to John E. Bryson, the new secretary, along with two scientific studies — a reference to one from the NOAA Science center that came out in October and a reminder by Sen. John Kerry of a pledge he obtained from NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco for an expedited review.
In a prepared statement released by the governor's office, Kerry said he believes the new research makes the case for the disaster declaration "incontrovertible."
"NOAA's own data clearly shows what Massachusetts fishermen have been saying all along — they are struggling to survive under the catch share program," Sen. Scott Brown said in the same statement.
"As the economic data and analysis continues to indicate, far too many of our fishing families are struggling to sustain their livelihood because of the catch share program," added Congressman John Tierney, whose 6th District includes Gloucester and all of Cape Ann.
The new disaster declaration request is built on new research — a "break-even" study conducted jointly by the School of Marine Science and Technology at University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, NOAA Fisheries and the state Division of Marine Fisheries, and a case study by the Division of Marine Fisheries of Sector 10.
Sector 10 is one of the 17 business cooperatives organized by the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition to minimize the hardships from the statutory limits on fish allocations granted during New England's first year operating under catch shares.
Made up primarily of day boat businesses, the sector — which includes fishermen from Hull to Cape Cod — has experienced "devastating" losses.
Thirty percent of the permit holders lost 80 percent of their revenues, and 52 percent lost at least half their revenues, according to the governor's summary of the report.
NOAA's data also shows that Gloucester also lost 21 of an estimated 96 boats during the same fishing year.
"While Massachusetts fishing sectors are not homogeneous," Patrick said, "we believe the Sector 10 analysis is illustrative of similar losses across all sectors, particularly among small boat owners."
Read the complete article by Richard Gaines in The Gloucester Times