In a December 2 letter to former NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator Pat Kurkul, Pat Kavanagh, a New Bedford, Massachusetts fisherman who is a member of the Sustainable Harvest Sector, accused members of the Northeast Seafood Coalition Sectors of having a 'de facto' cartel, after a Northeast Seafood Coalition member exercised his right of first refusal under the sector contracts of the Northeast Seafood Coalition Sectors.
A member of the Sustainable Harvest Sector who is also a member of the Associated Fisheries of Maine has told Saving Seafood that Mr. Kavanagh first raised his concerns with both groups, neither of which felt "the matter warranted any further consideration." Mr. Kavanagh then sent his personal letter of complaint to Administrator Kurkul.
Administrator Kurkul forwarded the issue to the New England Fisheries Managment Council, noting that because "this provision may affect the liquidity of the ACE trading market, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) may want to consider this issue in upcoming sector discussions." The NEFMC has not done so to date.
In her cover letter, Administrator Kurkul noted that her "understanding is that all sectors have included a right of first refusal within their operations plans in an attempt to protect the sector and its membership. However, all Northeast Fishery Sector operations plans also include a right of first offer" which applies to ACE transfers by its members. Essentially, any Northeast Fishery Sector member can lease ACE from another member before this is offered to anyone who is not in a Northeast Fishery Sector."
She continued "A sector contract is a private agreement between a fisherman and the sector and the current regulations do not prohibit a sector from establishing a right of first refusal or a right of first offer. For this reason, we have approved these provisions in sector contracts. Fishermen may choose whether or not to join a sector based on many factors, including contract provisions."
The right of first refusal in the business plans of all 12 sectors organized by the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition — representing more than half the active boats in the catch share groundfishery — has been used to wrongly restrain trade in catch shares and fishing permits, a New Bedford fisherman has alleged.
Read the complete article in The Gloucester Times