State and federal authorities should fight to keep a system that appears to be working.
When May 1 rolls around this year, commercial fishermen in New England will get something that they haven't had in a long time: Good news.
Following one year of a new management program that divides the right to catch fish among cooperatives of fishing boats called sectors instead of limiting individual boats' days at sea, the Department of Commerce is increasing the catch limits on 12 different groundfish stocks.
The new limits are evidence that after many years of overfishing followed by years of harsh regulation, the fish populations are rebounding. They also show that the new sector management program has been a success, and that what has been good for the fish is also good for the fishermen, offering hope to a beleaguered industry.
The new rules are not universally loved and are under challenge in court from two Massachusetts communities, New Bedford and Gloucester, which charge that the old system was fairer. While some parts of the industry may have done better under the old system, it's also true that it was not successfully conserving the fish or offering a sustainable basis for the industry as a whole. Mainers interested in a sustainable fishery should encourage federal authorities to fight the lawsuits and protect the new system that is showing signs of progress.
Regulators under the days-at-sea system told fishermen what they could not do: It limited when they could go out, how much they could catch in a day and where they could set their nets. Sector management lets fishermen decide when and how they fish, as long as their catch does not exceed proscribed amounts. Fishermen have a share of a quota, which they can fill themselves or sell to another boat. When prices are low, they can stay home.
Read the complete editorial from The Portland Press Herald.