Economic Impact

February 20, 2013 — Fishing isn’t just a way of life here but a $1 billion industry, so when fishermen complain government-mandated reductions on groundfish catch coming May 1 could be devastating, that brought not one but both U.S. Senators for the state to hear their concerns Wednesday.

"What would one year do here, just to put a stay on everything?" said Harriet Didriksen, daughter of a Norwegian immigrant fisherman, owner of New Bedford Ship Supply, and a former groundfish boat owner who now owns a scallop fishing boat. Along with many people connected to the lobster, scallop, and groundfish business and associated processing and packaging and shipping businesses here, she’s reeling from the proposed cod catch reductions being pushed by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

NMFS scientists say their studies show the cod stock is badly overfished and dangerously close to collapsing, leading the service to push for a 55 percent reduction in the allowable cod catch on Georges Bank in the year starting May 1 –- and a 77 percent reduction in the Gulf of Maine cod catch. (The service is proposing to let fishermen who catch less than their allotment in the year ending April 30 carry over between 2 and 10 percent to the next fishing year, but many fishermen scoff that’s unlikely to mitigate the disastrous effects of the deep reduction in allowed catch for 2013-14.)

But Didriksen and many other people in the fishing business in New Bedford and elsewhere in New England have no faith in the NMFS studies.

"Truthfully, the industry does not really believe National Marine Fisheries numbers," Didriksen said. "It's gotten to a point that we just don't have confidence in it."

 

Watch the video on the Northeast Cable News Network

 

 

February 19, 2013 — In May, New England's fishermen will again see a cut to the number of fish they can catch, this time so deeply that the historic industry's existence is threatened from Rhode Island to Maine. But as hard as the cuts are likely to hit fishing communities, local seafood eaters may not notice at all. In the region's markets, grocery stores and restaurants, imported fish dominate, and the cuts make that less likely to change.

The cuts will shrink the catch limit 77 percent for cod in the Gulf of Maine and 61 percent for cod in Georges Bank, off southeastern Massachusetts. That's the worst of a series of reductions to the catch of bottom-dwelling groundfish, such as haddock and flounder, that many fear could be fatal to the industry.

"They're going to wipe it out!" said Gilson. "The only thing that's going to be the same is the ocean you're looking at."

For fish consumers, a sharp drop in the local groundfish catch may jar a select group of diners who seek fish caught that day. But the cut's effects may not ripple further than that.

Just 9 percent of the seafood eaten in the United States is domestically caught, the federal government estimates. In New England, locally caught cod was just a slightly larger fraction of all cod eaten, 12 percent, according to fisheries economist Jenny Sun of the Portland, Maine-based Gulf of Maine Research Institute. And she estimates that could drop to 4 percent after the coming cuts.

Much of the imported cod is caught and frozen in Norway and cut in China, and there's plenty of it, Sun said. If the local cod catch dips to near nothing, fish processors "could easily fill in with imports," Sun said.

 

Read the full story by Jay Lindsay of the Associated Press at NBC News

 

 

February 15, 2013 — Mr. Brown is one of hundreds of fishermen caught in the net that has tightened around this industry and its seaside communities as the numbers of both fish and boats appear to be at historically low levels. Changes in the ecosystem, lingering effects of decades of overfishing and imperfect fishery management could all be to blame for the crisis, depending on whom you ask.

The situation looked so dire that the Commerce Department declared the Northeastern commercial groundfish fishery a disaster last fall, along with three salmon fisheries in Alaska and Mississippi’s blue crab and oyster fisheries.

That declaration paved the way for Congress to appropriate financial relief to those areas — a stop-and-start process that saw $150 million attached to, then stripped from, the Hurricane Sandy relief bill. Recently, Representative John Tierney, a Democrat of Massachusetts, proposed legislation that would draw aid money from a tax on imported fish.

But the prospect of significant money coming into the community has ignited a debate here over who gets it, dividing the fishermen on the piers, who see it as a lifeline in a time of deep struggle, from city officials who agree, but would also like to spend some of it as a boost to a new shoreline economy.

On a cold winter day, Carolyn Kirk, the mayor of Gloucester, looked over a fallow stretch of the inner harbor where a white sign read “Under Idea Development.” This, she says, could be a research center or the home of an ocean technology company. She hopes businesses like that could help Gloucester maintain its economic identity as a port city, even as the fishing fleet shrinks.

“T-shirts, taffy, not interested,” said Ms. Kirk, alluding to coastal communities like Hampton, N.H., that have built boardwalk economies. “How do we take the working port and put it back to work in a different kind of way?”

To Ms. Kirk, a former management consultant who is running for a fourth two-year term, the disaster money is an opportunity to help the fishermen — but also to diversify the economy, which she thinks could position itself at the center of the marine science and technology sector. That, she hopes, could help the city rebuild its economy as have some Massachusetts mill cities, like Lowell and Worcester, that now host biotech companies and warehouse apartments.

 

Read the full story at the New York Times

 

 

February 13, 2013 — A New Bedford company has been approved by NOAA Fisheries to provide at-sea and dockside monitoring services for the 2013 fishing year, which begins on May 1,the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast Regional office said in a news release.

According to its website, AIS Inc., located at 89 Water St., provides trained and certified inspectors and observers "for maritime activities requiring certification of compliance with environmental regulations." The company also collects data for use by federal, state, municipal and other government agencies, its site said.

Read the full story in the New Bedford Standard Times

 

 

 

 

YORK, Maine — February 3, 2013 — Area lobstermen are fearful that last summer's low prices could return again this year.

More than 50 area lobstermen filled the meeting room of York Public Library on Thursday night to hear what Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher could do to help them with lobster prices during a glut as was experienced last June.

Warmer than usual water temperatures last spring drove lobsters into shallow waters to shed their hard shells at least a month ahead of schedule, making for large catches of soft-shell lobsters and low prices. Usually on the Fourth of July when tourists arrive in Maine looking for a lobster dinner, restaurants and dealers are hungry for supply. Not this past summer.

"Around the 14th, 15th of June, dealers started calling," Keliher said. "Product was backing up on their docks."

Keliher was forced to issue a warning to lobstermen who talked of wanting to impose a de facto shutdown of the industry to drive prices back up, and who had expressed a willingness to coerce other fishermen to comply with threats of trap molestation and cut gear.

There were no cut lines, Keliher later said. The problem, and glut, was worse in northern waters than in southern Maine, he said.

Lobstermen who spoke Thursday expressed frustration over the price difference last summer between what they were getting for lobster and what tourists were paying in restaurants. While many diners got a bargain, Keliher agreed he saw signs in front of restaurants along the same main street in Freeport advertising lobster dinners for anywhere between $14.99 and $34.

 

Read the full story at SeaCoast Online 

 

 

 

 

January 31, 2012 — The sorry state of the world's oceans is creating investment opportunities in a range of enterprises that are pioneering the sustainable fishing industry of the future.

The Pacific bluefin tuna population is down 96.4 percent. More than 85 percent of fisheries are being fished at or over their capacity. More than 100 species of fish are threatened with extinction.

Such indicators point to the threat to the $390 billion global seafood market, but also to openings for investments in stock recovery strategies, fishing fleets and processing equipment, management systems and certifications and marketing of sustainable brands, one of the fastest-growing segments of the industry.

In the coming months, Impact IQ, along with our partner SOCAP, the social capital markets conference, will be exploring opportunities and tracking investments in promising ventures advancing sustainable oceans and fisheries.

Already, a group of investors looking for such opportunities is offering $75,000 in cash prizes and the prospect of investments and loans of between $100,000 and $10 million to support small and medium fishing businesses implementing sustainability strategies.

The Fish 2.0 contest, launched this week, is intended to help fishing businesses pitch their plans to impact investors seeking to support sustainability of local communities and ocean resources with financially sound investments. The deadline for initial submissions is March 31.

 

Read the full story at the Huffington Post 

 

 

 

 

February 3, 2013 — Fisherman and New England Fishery Management Council Member David Goethel is interviewed on Fox News.

Watch the video on Fox News

 

 

 

 

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — January 31, 2013 — Minutes after New England fishery managers took a vote that cast doubt on the historic industry's future, the prospects most clear to Gloucester fishermen Paul Vitale were his own.

"I'm bankrupt. That's it," said the 40-year-old father of three. "I'm all done. The boat's going up for sale."

The New England Fishery Management Council on Wednesday approved a year-to-year cut of 77 percent on the Gulf of Maine cod limit and 61 percent for Georges Bank cod.

The cuts come on top of a slew of other reductions, ranging from 10 to 71 percent, on the catch of other bottom-dwelling groundfish species, such as haddock and flounder.

Fishermen say now they're staring at industry collapse because they've been left with far too few fish for most boats to make a living.

"We are headed down the wrong course here, of exterminating the inshore fleet, for no good reason," said David Goethel, a New Hampshire fisherman and council member.

The cuts, in effect May 1, are expected to be backed by federal managers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA's top federal fisheries regulator, John Bullard, acknowledged the reductions will be devastating. But he said the fish stocks are struggling and the industry's steady, excruciating decline must be reversed.

"The first thing we have to do is put denial behind us," he said.

The cuts hit an industry that was crucial to the nation's early economy and remains imbued with the risk and romance of man versus nature — depicted in the famous "Man at the Wheel" statue in Gloucester of a fisherman facing the sea.

The new low limits reduce the cod catch to just a fraction of what it once was and prevent fishermen from landing enough of the plentiful species, such as haddock and pollock. That's because fishermen can't pull up the healthier groundfish without catching too much of the cod that swim among them.

An economic analysis by the council projected that the cuts would reduce overall groundfish revenues by 33 percent, from about $90 million in 2011 to about $60 million in 2013. But fishermen said the projection is far too optimistic.

"It's fantasy. … I mean, I'd rather go to Disney World. I've got a better chance of meeting Peter Pan," said Goethel, who predicted the entire New Hamsphire fleet would be eliminated.

 

Read the full story from Jay Lindsay of the Associated Press at WTOP

 

 

January 31, 2013 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Doug Lipton, PhD, has been tapped to fill the newly created position of Senior Research Economist at NOAA Fisheries. He will start on June 3, 2013. In this new role, Dr. Lipton will provide leadership and strategic direction to the agency’s economics and social science research program. Dr. Lipton’s deep experience in fisheries economics will be invaluable as NOAA Fisheries works to support the economic vitality of the nation’s coastal communities and the productivity of our ocean resources.

“Doug Lipton is a leader in bringing innovative economic thinking to bear on tough issues in managing marine resources and maintaining healthy coastal ecosystems,” said Dr. Richard Merrick, NOAA Fisheries Chief Science Advisor. “Supporting the well-being of our coastal communities is one of this agency’s priority missions. I am very pleased that Doug, as our Senior Research Economist, will help point the way forward as we work to insure that coastal communities benefit from a healthy ocean, today and into the future.”

Currently, Dr. Lipton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Maryland. Much of his research has focused on valuing marine resources such as fish, shellfish, and recreation, and on understanding how water quality affects the value of those resources. In addition, he has been instrumental in developing innovative policies that use economic incentives to drive environmental improvements. For example, he has recently worked on creating market-based programs to fund oyster reef restoration in order to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.

In addition to his duties as a researcher and professor, Dr. Lipton has been Program Leader for the Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program for the past 20 years. This program, which is partly funded by NOAA, connects experts in aquaculture, seafood, water quality, and marine and watershed science with the government agencies, citizens groups, and businesses that stand to benefit from their expertise. Among other things, the Sea Grant Extension Program assists coastal communities in contributing to the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The program has also helped the crab industry use technology to improve seafood quality control.

“I am excited and honored to be appointed NOAA’s first Senior Research Economist,” said Dr. Lipton, who also noted that economics and social science research are fundamental to maintaining a vital economy and a healthy ecosystem.

 

Read the full story on the NOAA website 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON — January 29, 2013 — The few fishermen who still ply New England's waters for cod, haddock and other groundfish are bracing for a double dose of bad news this week.

The first arrived Monday when, as anticipated, the U.S. Senate approved a $60 billion Hurricane Sandy disaster relief bill that contained no federal aid for the northeastern groundfishery or several other fisheries that face "economic disasters."

The second wave could arrive Wednesday or Thursday if federal regulators, as expected, slash already reduced catch limits by another 70 percent to 80 percent to protect fish populations that scientists now say are much smaller than previously thought.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce designated the northeastern groundfishery an "economic disaster," opening the door for emergency federal funds to help support the industry, research programs or management practices.

But Congress has yet to appropriate the money. And any hope of securing funds through the Hurricane Sandy disaster relief bill died in the House after budget hawks stripped unrelated disaster programs from the bill, which passed in the Senate on Monday.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from New England and Alaska — another state with a certified fishery disaster — vowed to return with another request or pursue other options. The process could take weeks or months.

"It's one thing to get a disaster declaration on paper. It is another thing to be able to provide the relief," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. "And I certainly intend to push until that relief is provided, not only for the families in Alaska, but for those that have been impacted by fisheries disasters throughout the country."

Fishermen are bracing for much starker news from the New England Fishery Management Council later this week. The council's scientific advisory council is proposing an 81 percent cut in the Gulf of Maine cod catch and cuts of 60 percent to 70 percent for other species, based on dire stock assessments.

Last week, the Northeast region's top regulator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, John Bullard, told The Associated Press that the cuts "will have devastating impacts on the fleet, and on families, and on ports," but "reality is here and we have to face it."

 

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald