Saving Seafood

STATE REP. BILL STRAUS: Impact of the federal fisheries arrests in New Bedford

March 22, 2016 — By now the local reaction to the waterfront arrests in New Bedford of one of the port’s major figures has begun to shift to inevitable questions of the role of the federal government in the regulation of commercial fishing. Operating under federal law, the current groundfish system of control, the so-called “catch shares” plan, began with Amendment 16 in 2009 by vote of the New England Fishery Management Council. This intricate system of allocating by fish species what can be caught and landed by licensed federal permit holders has clearly changed the market economics for New England fishing; a rapid concentration of fish permit holders has led to what functions as a government-created near monopoly. The fact that a single owner now controls at least 40 New England groundfish permits means that one person’s actions, whether driven by good or bad motives, reverberates through the regional economy.

We need to remember that this discussion is critical to the future of our port, and in my mind is distinct from the ultimate guilt or innocence of those charged to date. The presumption of innocence holds for anyone accused of a crime and they are entitled to a vigorous defense on their behalf. Regardless of the outcome of those proceedings, however, our port’s future depends on candidly looking at whether there has been a detrimental role played by the government’s regulations and how we got to this point. After all, the Port of New Bedford has a key role in the movement of seafood nationally; NOAA statistics for 2014 identify the port’s product value for landings at $327 million overall of which $251 million is from scallops. Using a conservative economic multiplier, the value to our local economy is over $600 million a year. By comparison, Gloucester’s seafood dollar value is only one-seventh of ours at $46 million during the same period.

The public documents now available online growing out of the New Bedford prosecutions point to a pattern of deceptive behavior where catch share quotas for specific types of fish were allegedly misreported for private economic gain. Because this type of behavior is alleged to be overseen by someone who owns and controls the most permits, the local groundfish industry in New Bedford is therefore more vulnerable and susceptible. That is a departure from history, where a diverse port economy relied on the decisions of many stakeholders. I don’t believe this concentration is a good thing for the overwhelming majority of those who look to and depend upon the seafood industry. Whatever is occurring at sea with respect to the science of habitat quality, species survival and sustainability is one thing; its quite another for a port’s success or failure to be put in jeopardy as a result of a narrow band of ownership encouraged by the Federal regulations adopted to protect the fisheries.

Read the full opinion piece at The New Bedford Standard-Times

NEFMC Meeting – January 26-28, 2016 Webinar Info

January 21, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

Meeting: The public is invited to listen in to the January 26-28, 2016 Council Meeting at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel at 250 Market Street in Portsmouth, NH. Check here Sheraton Harborside for further information about the venue. 

Webinar Registration: For online access to the meeting, please use the following link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6378985305225649154. The webinar will be activated beginning at 8:00 a.m. and end at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST.

Charges for Listening: There are no charges if you access the webinar via your computer. If dialing in, your normal phone charges will apply.

Dial in number: Toll: +1 (213) 929-4232

Access Code: 591-922-206 

Meeting Materials: Please consult the Council’s website January 26-28, 2016 for an agenda and copies of the materials to be considered.  

Questions: If you have questions prior to or during the meeting, feel free to call me at the Council office at (978) 465-0492 ext. 106, or otherwise send an email – pfiorelli@nefmc.org.

NEFMC: Fish Tank Request for Proposals

January 21, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the New England Fishery Management Council are requesting proposals for projects that aim to improve the data and models used to manage New England groundfish, and that address one or more of the six research priorities developed during GMRI’s 2015 Fish Tank series of scoping meetings. A total of $30K is available to support an anticipated one or more projects. Proposals are due Friday, February 19th.

Attached is the full request for proposals. As stated in the attachment, please be aware that the submitting applicant must have attended one of the Fish Tank port meetings or the Taking Stock workshop (http://www.gmri.org/fishtank). However, other project team members need not have participated in the Fish Tank series. 

Please contact GMRI Project Coordinator, Mary Hudson, at mhudson@gmri.org or 207-228-1666 with any questions.

Scallop Industry Fights Early Access To Nantucket Lightship Area

December 22, 2015 – Last week, The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), represented by Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, wrote NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard, urging him to disapprove a December 3rd vote at the New England Fishery Management Council that would allow certain vessels early entry into the Nantucket Lightship area in violation of the principles of rotational closure system that has made the scallop fishery sustainable and profitable.

The vote would allow General Category scallopers access to the Nantucket Lightship area, and disallow access by Limited Access vessels. FSF says that allowing different access for different types of vessels in the scallop fleet violates laws, regulations, and the Atlantic Scallop Fishery Management Plan. FSF also argues that the vote failed to meet public notice requirements, failed to provide analysis of effects for public comment, and, as an allocation issue, requires an amendment of the Fisheries Management Plan.

Administrator Bullard himself spoke in opposition to the vote, stating “What I’m worried about is a motion like this … [takes] a chink out ofthis rotational closure and allows one group in early. And so next year, what’s the justification for someone to come in early, and the year after, what’s the rationale? And at what point do we not have the system that created the nation’s most profitable, most productive, most sustainable fishery? At what point do we look and say ‘it really isn’t a rotational closure system anymore, it’s a system where we decide who goes where at what time.'”

View the letter as a PDF

Region’s struggling fishermen may get break on monitors

December 8, 2015 — The region’s fishermen, who have railed for months against the possibility of having to pay for the government observers who monitor their catch, may be getting a bit of a reprieve.

The New England Fishery Management Council, which oversees the region’s industry, approved measures last week to alleviate some of the burden fishermen are facing to cover the costs of the observers monitoring their catch.

Earlier this year, federal regulators decided to end the multimillion-dollar subsidy that paid for the program, handing off the cost to the fishermen. The observers, under federal mandates, accompany fisherman on about a quarter of their trips as a way to curb overfishing.

A federal report this year found the new costs could cause 59 percent of the region’s once-mighty groundfishing fleet to lose money. Many of the estimated 200 boats remaining are already struggling, given sweeping government-imposed cuts to quotas of cod and other bottom-dwelling fish.

The council’s recent action, if approved by federal regulators, could reduce by half the number of trips that observers are required to take with the region’s groundfishermen. The new regulations — which the government has estimated could cost fishermen as much $710 per trip with an observer — would reduce that requirement from nearly a quarter of trips to as low as 13 percent.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

New England fleet could see haddock quota double

December 4, 2015 — The annual catch limits for Gulf of Maine cod will increase slightly in 2016, while the quota for haddock will more than double if recommendations passed this week by the New England Fishery Management Council are approved by NOAA Fisheries.

One year after slashing total cod quotas by more than 75 percent to 386 metric tons, the council voted at its three-day meeting in Portland, Maine, to raise the total cod annual catch limit (ACL) to about 440 metric tons, with 280 metric tons designated for the commercial fishing industry in each of the next three fishing seasons.

The commercial industry’s Gulf of Maine cod ACL this year is 207 metric tons.

“It’s a slight increase and of course that’s always good,” said Jackie Odell, executive director of the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition. “But it doesn’t come close to reflecting what fishermen — commercial and recreational — are seeing on the water and it’s certainly nothing that’s going to sustain the fishery.”

The council voted to increase the commercial quota for Gulf of Maine haddock in 2016 to 2,416 metric tons from the current 958 metric tons, or an increase of 152 percent.

“Haddock is going up substantially, like through the roof,” Odell said.

The news was not good on Cape Cod and Gulf of Maine yellowtail flounder, with the commercial ACL falling 26 percent in 2016 to 341 metric tons, and witch flounder, which will have a 50 percent decrease in its 2016 ACL to 302 metric tons from the current 620 metric tons.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

New England’s struggling cod fishery to see new quota cut

December 2, 2015 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishing managers on Wednesday recommended a shift in the amount of fish New England’s beleaguered cod fishing businesses should be allowed to catch for the next few years, which would reduce the limit for some fishermen.

The New England Fishery Management Council met to consider quotas for several important food fish, including the Gulf of Maine cod, which once was the backbone of the New England fishing industry and is now in decline. The council recommended a slight rise in quota for Gulf of Maine cod along with a steeper quota cut for Georges Bank’s cod.

Tough quotas and low availability have made local cod difficult to find in New England, and when it is available, customers must pay more for it than they would for foreign cod. Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, called the reduction in Georges Bank quota “a substantial cut to the industry.”

Inability to catch cod also prevents fishermen from landing species such as haddock, pollock and hake that live in the same areas, Martens said.

“It’s going to be hard for boats of any size to go out there and run a groundfish business,” he said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the San Francisco Cronicle

 

 

Fishing managers to revisit collapsed cod stock, quotas

December 2, 2015 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishing managers are recommending a shift in the amount of fish New England’s beleaguered cod fishermen can catch for the next few years.

The New England Fishery Management Council is meeting on Wednesday to consider quotas for several species of important food fish. One of the species is the Gulf of Maine cod, which was once the backbone of the New England fishing industry.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Beaumont Enterprise

 

Webinar/Agenda for NEFMC Meeting, Portland, ME, Dec 1-3, 2015

November 25, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold its Dec 1-3 meeting in Portland, ME. Please take a look at the details below if you would like to listen in. 

Location: For further information about the venue, check Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland, ME

Meeting Materials: See the agenda here Dec 1-3, 2015 Council Meeting Agenda and meeting materials at www.nefmc.org/calendar/december-2015-council-meeting 

Webinar Registration: See https://global.gotowebinar.com/ojoin/9120951799557371650/300000000000299567 for online access to the meeting.

The webinar will be activated beginning at 8:00 a.m. each day and end at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST .

Charges for Listening: There are no charges if you access the webinar via your computer. If dialing in, your normal phone charges will apply.

Dial in number: Toll: +1 (646) 307-1720

Access Code: 399-520-213

View a PDF of the Meeting Agenda

NEFMC Approves Framework 9 Monkfish Fishery Management Plan

November 23, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council: 

The NEFMC took final action on Framework 9 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan. It is developed jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Council, with New England in the lead. While this framework addresses monkfish issues, it also would modify the region’s groundfish regulations. If approved by NOAA Fisheries, it would:

  • Allow limited access monkfish category C and D sector vessels only to declare, and use, while at sea, a groundfish (or Northeast Multispecies) day-at-sea while fishing in the Northern Fishery Management Area (NFMA).
  • Eliminate the monkfish trip limit when on a groundfish/monkfish day-at-sea in the NFMA.
  • Reduce the minimum mesh size of standup gillnet gear in the Southern Fishery Management Area (SFMA). Vessels fishing on a monkfish day-at-sea with a stand-up gillnet in the Mid-Atlantic Exemption Area could use mesh a minimum mesh of 5- inches, fish with no more than 50 standup gillnets, and retain dogfish and monkfish.
  • Allow vessels fishing on a monkfish day-at-sea in the Southern New England (SNE) Dogfish Exemption Area to use a minimum standup gillnet mesh size of 6-inches, fish no more than 50 standup gillnets from May 1 through October 31, and retain both dogfish and monkfish. Vessels fishing on a monkfish day-at-sea in the SNE Monkfish and Skate Exemption Area could use a minimum mesh size of 10-inches year round and retain both dogfish and monkfish on the same trip.
  • Allow a 6.5-inch minimum mesh size for standup gillnet gear while fishing on a monkfish and groundfish day-at-sea in the SFMA.

The Council opted for No Action on three alternatives that would have: a.) allowed vessels in the SFMA to declare a monkfish day-at-sea while at sea; b.) increased the daily day-at-sea/ trip limit allocation for Category F (offshore) vessels; and c.) allowed vessels to re-declare or use a monkfish research set-aside day-atsea while already at sea using a monkfish dayat-sea. The decisions were made largely on the basis of concerns effort shifts from north to south.

Both Councils, voting at their respective June Council meetings, agreed on the management measures proposed in Framework 9. It will be submitted to NOAA Fisheries later this summer. The Monkfish Committee is scheduled to consider next Amendment 6, an action that will address among other issues, options for catch shares in this fishery.

View a PDF of the Newsletter