On August 25, five New Bedford vessels return to fishing after a weekend in port due to Hurricane Bill. As they head to sea, they will stop in Vineyard Haven at noon, to welcome the Obama family, and to call attention to the challenges facing our fishing fleet.
Boats will welcome the Obamas; point out concerns of fishing fleet
August 24, 2009 – New Bedford, MA — The fishing fleet of New Bedford, Massachusetts – one of America’s oldest and it’s most profitable fishing port — welcomes the President and the Obama family to Martha’s Vineyard, and to the waters where we work each day.
On Tuesday, August 25, ten New Bedford vessels return to fishing after a weekend in port due to Hurricane Bill. As they head to sea, they will stop in Vineyard Haven at noon, to welcome the Obama family, and to call attention to the challenges facing our fishing fleet.
We hope as the Obamas enjoy their vacation, 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 NOAA government management measures which restrict their ability to fish while provideing little or no benefit to the fish stocks they target.
Current Regulations Are Failing
Current regulations have failed the fish and the fishermen, sending vessels to sea during hazardous weather conditions to meet arbitrary deadlines, and forcing fishermen to throw thousands of pounds of good fish overboard to stay under trip limits.
The most recent statistics (http://www.nero.noaa.gov/ro/fso/mul.htm) show that of the twelve species New England groundfish fishermen harvest, regulations prevented catching the conservation catch target for ten of the twelve species. The conservation catch target is the amount of fish that federal scientists determine may be removed sustainably from a stock of fish each year. Only white hake and monkfish were caught at levels close to the target.
The total conservation catch target for the twelve groundfish species was almost 170 thousand metric tons. The total catch was less than 43 thousand tons. Assuming a conservative estimate of a dollar a pound, this represents over a billion dollars lost to the New England economy, and lost primarily to New England’s struggling fishing communities.
Science and Limits Have Been Questionable
NOAA scientists base conservation catch target limits on stock estimates, but their science has often been less than credible. And when the government scientists undercount, that means more and tighter restrictions on fishermen than what is needed to protect our oceans. In 2002, in an incident dubbed "Trawlgate", fishermen discovered that NOAA’s survey vessel was running with its nets misaligned and lopsided, allowing fish to escape and leading scientists to conclude there were fewer fish in the sea. . In 2003, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth scientists proved that NOAA’s estimates of the scallop biomass were 50% lower than they actually were. Today the north Atlantic scallop fishery is among our nation’s healthiest and most profitable. Had it been left in the hands of government scientists, we might still be underfishing this resource.
First Estimates of Limits Appear Unworkable
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.
A Blind Leap into an uncertain future
In an effort to improve regulation, the Obama Administration has made the shift to "catch share management" the cornerstone of its fisheries policy. NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, and several environmentalist organizations have advocated this management system. Under catch shares, fishing vessels are granted percentages of the total allowable catch. In the northeast, they will do this by grouping into “sectors”, private corporations representing groups of vessels that will be granted quotas.
This 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 deeded to Canada by the U.S. Government. And while the 1976 law was created by Congressional action and Presidential signature, this change is being enacted by a government agency, by fiat.
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 September 1st, even though the rules and regulations and quotas won’t be set until late this year or possibly in 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.
Privatizing Ocean Resources
Catch Shares management is described by its proponents as giving “fishermen a stake in fisheries and an incentive to conserve fish.” This may prove to be true. However, catch shares work by granting access to a secure share of the total allowed catch to individual fishermen, communities or fishery associations.
As such, this represents one of the largest transfers of public resources to the private sector in American history. And this is taking place without in-depth analysis and public discussion.
Most analyses of Catch Share management anticipate that some fishermen will be squeezed out by economic forces, will no longer have the opportunity to fish, and will lose their livelihood.
We are concerned that Catch Shares will create the opportunity for significant monied interests from outside the commercial fishing industry to buy up the vast majority of fishing permits. These interests might not be local and might be foreign. Our nation has seen farm policies that led to the loss of the family farm in agriculture. We fear the loss of the family-owned boat in fishing.
Our fisheries management law requires “taking into account the social and economic needs of the States.” [Magnuson-Stevens Act (2)(b)(5), Public Law 101-627]. Over the years, the National Marine Fisheries Service has prioritized environmental goals over the needs of working families. The law requires balance between the environment and our economy. As we move to Catch Share management, we ask that NOAA obey this law.
This is an unprecedented step in managing our fisheries. We ask for the time to realistically examine the management options that we have, and to make the decisions that will determine the future complexion of our businesses, our communities and of one of our oldest fisheries in a measured and well-reasoned manner.
We are concerned about a blind rush to meet an arbitrary timeframe, 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.
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