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Ten New Bedford vessels, in port due to Hurricane Bill, will stop at Martha’s Vineyard to greet President Obama with a message of opposition to catch shares on their way back out to George’s Bank. The polite protest was organized by Richie Canastra, owner of the Whaling City Display Auction.
In a statement published on their Saving Seafood web site, the group acknowledges that stocks are rebuilding, and that catch shares may have some benefits, but say the transition to catch shares is too rushed for such a momentous decision.
Delaying catch shares for a year may be a very valid point. Unfortunately the message gets lost in a welter of accusations and opposition to NMFS, so that the plea to delay catch shares is buried in a ten year litany of grievance, from mistakes made in the NMFS trawl surveys to the presence of fishing restrictions, to objections that any vessel may have to leave the fishery for economic reasons. New Bedford, more than Gloucester, has experience with the successful management of the scallop fishery, and knows that restrictions in the short term can lead to huge financial bonuses in the long term. Therefore, they accept the idea that stocks are rebuilding under the current plan – and suggest simply keeping present restrictions in place for another year while issues around catch shares are defined better. This is not an unreasonable position. In Alaska, halibut took nearly ten years to implement; crab took more than four years, and pollock also took four or five years. The plea for a longer time line could be a good solution, if it wasn’t so wrapped up in a rejection of almost all fisheries management efforts.
View a photo gallery of the New Bedford flotilla as it shared its message with President Obama
From Seafood News (subscription site)
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton – Aug 25, 2009 – A number of New Bedford vessels who had been in port due to Hurricane Bill, will sail over to Martha’s Vineyard on their way back out the George’s Bank to greet President Obama, and make a statement about New England Fisheries.
The effort is organized by Richie Canastra, the owner of the Whaling City Auction and founder of the Saving Seafood web site.
‘We hope as the Obamas enjoy their vacation, that they will eat some of our famous New England seafood. And we trust that given the President’s concern for working families, he will remember the fishermen. These small business owners risk their lives at sea to put food on American tables, provide for their families, and create jobs. They pump a billion dollars into the Massachusetts economy every year. And they face an increasingly complex web of federal management measures which restrict their ability to fish.’
Like many in New England, the group in New Bedford is concerned about the move to catch shares.
They say that "last week, preliminary recommendations for the Pollock catch limit suggest a possible cut of 67% from current limits. Pollock is a less desirable relative of cod, often used in fish sticks and breaded cutlets. Because it is hard to avoid catching Pollock when fishing for haddock, cod and other species, and because by-catch will be included in Catch Share hard limits, industry leaders believe this reduction alone may make Catch Share management unworkable."
They also say the change to catch shares as the standard for fisheries management "represents the most significant change in fisheries management in the United States since 1976; a change as dramatic as the 200 mile limit and the establishment of the Hague Line, under which a significant portion of Georges Bank was awarded to Canada" by the World Court after fishermen rejected a proposed U.S. Canada treaty.
"Catch Share management might well improve the regulatory framework that we work under. But the move to Catch Shares in the New England groundfish fishery is taking place so fast, that fishermen are being asked to join sectors by September 1st, even though the rules and regulations and quotas won’t be set until late this year or possibly in 2010. NMFS says that Fishermen may also opt back out of sectors, if the sector allows, until May 1st, 2010.
"We are being asked to take a blind leap into an uncertain future. The government is replacing a system that we know has failed, with one that we hope will work. This change will force an unprecedented social transition for our fishermen without a solid understanding of the consequences."
"We are concerned about a blind rush to meet an arbitrary time frame, which is what we are now being forced by the National Marine Fisheries Service to do. Almost all of the groundfish stocks are rebuilding. The delay of a year or two in implementing catch shares or choosing another path isn’t going to change the rebuilding of these species."
The vessels partipating will carry signs and banners as they sail into the harbor at Vineyard Haven.
Fishing vessels participating in the visit to Martha’s Vineyard include:
F/V Blue Seas
F/V Neves
F/V Sancor
F/V Northern Crusader
F/V Green Acres
F/V Stars of the Sea
F/V Lady Patricia
F/V Sea Explorer
F/V Morue
F/V Mischief
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