Economic Impact

The Obama Administration has granted fishers in Gloucester and other area ports their wish and opened the way for an emergency boost in the groundfish catch to mitigate economic struggles on regional fishing fleets.

Disclosed by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, the move points to a change for the administration, which for a while avoided talks on a catch increase arguing it would not work under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Before making any changes, however, Locke said he needs more information.

The government will not necessarily increase the number of fish New England fishers can catch – the government has simply said an increase is possible, and this alone has proven cause for celebration. Coastal congressmen, local politicians and industry leaders all worked to get the administration on their side, Gloucester Daily Times reports.

Read the complete story from FIS Worldnews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Obama administration has opened the door to an emergency increase in the groundfish catch to relieve economic hardship on New England fishing fleets — something fishermen in Gloucester and other area ports have been desperately fighting for.

The new policy, announced by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in a Thursday letter, signals a change of course for the administration, which for months has avoided discussion of a catch increase on the grounds that it would not be allowed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

While Thursday's announcement did not commit the government to increase the number of fish New England fishermen can catch, the mere acknowledgement that an increase is possible was hailed as a significant turning point by industry supporters. It came under a sustained multi-pronged political push from coastal congressmen, local politicians and industry leaders who have recently seen the administration as unresponsive, or even hostile to area fishermen.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

Statement from Jackie Odell, Executive Director, Northeast Seafood Coalition
 
For almost a year, the Northeast Seafood Coalition has been pursuing a resolution for the low annual catch limits prescribed for key groundfish stocks. NSC has continuously conveyed our grave concerns to members of Congress that the limits prescribed for a number of stocks were set far below the overfishing limits, thus threatening the effective functioning of sectors and the economic sustainability of our fishery and communities. We look forward to the Secretary of Commerce utilizing his statutory authority as soon as possible to relieve the unnecessary constraints placed upon the fishery.
 
The Northeast Seafood Coalition is pleased to see that the Department of Commerce and NOAA are in support of legislation that is essential to bi-lateral management of shared resources on Georges Bank. NSC strongly supports this legislation be enacted at the next available opportunity.

The Northeast Seafood Coalition greatly appreciates the support and leadership of our political representatives (Senator Kerry, Senator Snowe, Senator Brown, Congressman Frank, Congressman Tierney, Governor Patrick, Mayor Lang, Mayor Kirk, State Senator Tarr and Representative Ferrante) on critical issues that face the groundfish fishery and coastal communities across New England.

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS BY John Sackton – Oct 8, 2010 – At the recent New England council meeting there were several reports that shed some light on the performance of the regions fisheries in the controversial shift to catch shares.

One of the striking things is that New Bedford and Gloucester, as well as all of Massachusetts, has gained considerably from the program, while Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island have all seen landings decrease.

For example, NMFS reports through the end of August show that Massachusetts ports accounted for 84% of all landings. Total volume for the period May – August was 8200 tons vs. 8415 tons for the same period in 2009. This meant that landings in Mass. totalled 97.4% of the 2009 level, while revenues grew to 124.5% of 2009 levels. Clearly, sales and landings through Massachusetts ports have improved.

New Bedford's groundfish landings were 111% of 2009, while Gloucester's were 95%. Groundfish revenues in Gloucester and New Bedford are up 25% to 30% over last year.

However, the picture is darker for the rest of the region. In Maine, landings were 62.1% of 2009 levels, although revenues were 96.1%. For New Hampshire, landings were 41.7%, and revenues were 74.7%. And for Rhode Island, landings were at 66.3%, and revenues were at 71.3%.

For the region as a whole, 87.8% of 2009 volume was landed in 2010 so far, but revenues are 116% higher, so there is a net gain in value.

[Note: In response to comments on this story, the fact that overall revenues in Gloucester were up does nothing to help the small boat fleet – which is still hurting tremendously from lack of catch history. That is why they and their supporters in government are so upset – and that fact does not change despite a landing pattern that sees more large vessels land in Gloucester, boosting port total revenue. JS]

In 2009, Massachusetts accounted for 76% of the landings during the period while in 2010, Massachusetts accounted for 84%.

One reason may be the requirement for dockside monitors, which forces vessels into ports with established monitoring in place.

The regional discrepancies suggest that the Council will have to look at measures to equalize landings among ports closer to their historical levels. New Hampshire, for example, recently announced a $1 million grant from NMFS to set up a permit bank for New Hampshire vessels, which will presumeably require them to make more landings in the state.

The council also voted unanimously to establish accumulation limits for the groundfish fishery. Accumulation limits may help make quota history available for purchase by permit banks, and subsequent distribution to small boats.

It was also clear from the report at the council that fishing in the common pool is less and less viable. According to NMFS there was an 8% increase in the number of permit holders planning to join sectors in 2011, meaning that sectors will represent 98% of the region's catch.

With most sectors well within their fishing ACL's for most groundfish species, and with substantial quotas left on haddock and cod, there is still the possibility that groundfish landings will edge up to reach last year's levels as fishing continues over the winter.

John Sackton, Editor And Publisher
Seafood.com News 1-781-861-1441
Email comments to jsackton@seafood.com

 

 

 

Press Release:

Goal to Enhance Fishing Opportunities for Small-scale Groundfish Fishermen NOAA’s Fisheries Service and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department today announced a program to create a permit bank to help maximize economic and social benefits to New Hampshire groundfishermen and communities. NOAA is providing $1 million to support this effort, which the N.H. Fish and Game will administer.

“We want to preserve the diversity of this historic fishery,” said Eric Schwaab, NOAA assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “That is why we have provided $1 million to New Hampshire, which is part of $6 million we have granted to support northeast states that are creating or expanding their own permit banks.”

A permit bank is a collection of fishing permits that are purchased and held by an organization, in this case the state of New Hampshire, to provide additional access rights such as days-at-sea and annual catch share to qualifying fishing vessels.  Each permit carries with it a catch history that determines how much fish the vessel can take, or the number of days-at-sea the vessel can fish in 2010.  Days-at-sea can also be leased to vessels needing groundfish days-at sea to fish for monkfish.

The goal of permit banks is to provide owners of fishing vessels who are members of a sector (a legal entity comprised of a group of fishermen collectively using their allocation to fish for different groundfish species) with limited or no groundfish fishing history an opportunity to obtain additional fishing days or allocation. This will make it much more economically viable for these small fishing vessels to participate in the fishery.

“We look forward to working with NOAA to implement this project, which will help New Hampshire’s rural fishing communities and small-scale fishing businesses,” said Doug Grout,  chief of N.H. Fish and Game Marine Fisheries. “These funds will directly benefit our local groundfish sectors and will allow us to establish a repository for future permit bank funds."

For more information, contact Cheri Patterson, N.H. Fish and Game Marine Fisheries, at 603-868-1095; or Michael Pentony, NOAA Fisheries Service, at 978-281-9283.

NARRAGANSETT — The odor of bait –– specifically, the odor of skate, an ugly flat creature, pungent in death –– suffuses the deck of the Sea Star on this otherwise pristine morning. Barrels and barrels of salt-packed bait: an assault to the human nose but a delicacy to the seagulls that swoop everywhere, and to the lobsters that draw the Sea Star far out to sea.

Owner and captain Morgan Garrett stands inside the galley of his boat, which is docked near a Block Island ferry, a larger but substantially less adventuresome vessel. By the day before, he knew that it was time to sail: after a few days ashore, he had started to wear what his wife calls his “fishing face” again. He was fidgety, anticipatory. An old romance had rekindled, as it does almost every week, year-round.

“Once I get in that mode, it’s time to go,” Garrett says.

Mike Labonte, one of Sea Star’s crew of three, takes the captain’s order for the grocery-store run. Steak, hamburger, coffee and cigarettes top the list. “These guys eat like cows,” says Garrett, writing a check for $500. Soon, a truck will deliver diesel fuel, Garrett and his three men will shove off, and the Sea Star will disappear into the horizon beyond the Point Judith jetties. When the boat returns, Garrett hopes to have a full cargo.

Read the complete story from The Providence Journal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The latest annual report on “Fisheries of the United States” shows that 2009 landings of American lobster rose 18 percent, but value decreased by 2 percent, compared with 2008.

The report was issued earlier in September by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Fisheries Statistics Division in Silver Spring, Md.

American lobster landings were nearly 96.9 million pounds valued at almost $299.5 million—an increase of 15.1 million pounds, but a decrease of almost $6.7 million, compared with 2008, according to the report.

Read the complete story from Fishermen's Voice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a sobering marker of the economic meltdown: One of every seven Americans is now living in poverty, according to a new analysis released by the Census Bureau Thursday morning.

Few places in New England have felt this economy worse than Lawrence, a poor city even in good times. The recession's killed hundreds of badly needed jobs here and spawned a crisis of foreclosed and abandoned homes.

Pastor Victor Jarvis sees it in his 300-person Ebenezer Church on Haverhill Street. "Many of our people are suffering. Some of them come and say, 'Pastor, I'm losing my house,' or some come crying, 'I have to give up my car because I'm not able to pay.' ''

He understands all too well how the nation has hit a depressing new milestone of one-seventh of Americans, as of the end of 2009, officially in poverty.

Read the complete story from NECN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commercial fishery landings in Hampton Roads dropped 5.8 percent from 2008 to 2009, but the region retained its spot as the sixth most lucrative port in the U.S.

So says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which released a preliminary draft of its annual fisheries report last week.

The catch in Hampton Roads last year was valued at $68.1 million – a figure buoyed, in large part, by the scallop industry that operates off Virginia's coast.

Read the complete story from the Daily Press.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD — The city is No. 1, again.

For the 10th consecutive year, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, New Bedford is ranked first in the nation in revenue gained from fish landings.

The stats are based on calendar year 2009 numbers, when the value of fish landings was estimated to be $249.2 million, nearly $90 million more than the second-ranked port, Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska, which pulled in $159.7 million worth of catch that year.

The city saw the value of its catch increase by almost $8 million from 2008.

New Bedford, meanwhile, ranked eighth in terms of pounds of landings with 170 million in 2009. That figure was up from 146.4 million in 2008. Dutch Harbor-Unalaska ranked first in that category with 506.3 million in 2009.

Fishermen and government officials alike attribute the city's cash haul to the scalloping industry.

Read the complete story from The South Coast Today [subscription site]