PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — May 4, 2014 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released two reports this week that show positive signs for the national fishing industry, although local fishermen say New Hampshire should reel in its optimism about the findings.
The reports, "Status of U.S. Fisheries 2013" and "Fisheries Economics of the United States 2012," indicate two fish stocks were rebuilt to target levels last year and that national commercial and recreational saltwater fishing generated more than $199 billion in sales in 2012, a gain of 7 percent over the previous year.
Despite the findings, locals aren't convinced that the much-maligned industry or fishermen in the Northeast are recovering.
"I don't believe them," said New Hampshire Commercial Fishermen's Association President Erik Anderson.
Anderson said local reports still show New Hampshire groundfish revenues are down by about 41 percent, which is part of the reason why he doesn't believe the hardships of the Seacoast and other struggling areas are a focus of the mainly national-level NOAA reports.
"It makes no sense for the experiences of this community here, which focuses on groundfish, that their revenues have increased," Anderson said. "I think that's what bothers me with the way the report's been constructed. It's deceptive. It's not reflective of what this community is experiencing. Far from it. We're positive that the revenues are down."
The NOAA reports indicate New England netted $1.2 billion in landings revenue in 2012 thanks to 664 million pounds of finfish and shellfish, though $424 million of that revenue came from lobsters and $389 million came from sea scallops, according to SouthCoastToday.com.
Read the full story at the Portsmouth Herald