Groundfish industry Archives

Other New England Groundfish Sectors Demand Equitable Distribution of Rafael Permits

May 8, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Sustainable Harvest Sector, one of the fishery cooperatives authorized by the New England Fishery Management Council, has called again for NMFS to redistribute Carlos Rafael’s fishing permits to the entire industry, by returning the catch history to the entire region. Below is a statement from the Board of this Sector, making the case as to why NMFS should act in this manner. [Saving Seafood Editor’s Note: The Board of this Sector consists of Frank Patania, Anthony Fernandes, Phil Ruhle, Jr., Maggie Raymond, James Odlin, Marshall Alexander]

They also rightly state that any geographic preference, such as permanently awarding a portion of quota to New Bedford, requires an extensive public consultation and rulemaking, as such geographic allocations are outlawed under Magnuson except in very special and specific cases.

Fair and Just Compensation in the Case of Carlos Rafael

As Carlos Rafael’s criminal case of money laundering and fishery fraud winds toward closure, the National Marine Fisheries Service must confirm how to re-allocate Rafael’s fish harvesting privileges. The government plans to seize thirteen vessels and fishing permits. That still leaves Rafael with dozens more boats and permits to continue operating, and many fishermen believe he should be expelled from the fishery entirely. But whether it’s thirteen permits seized or the three dozen he owns, each one has some amount of fishing rights ‘attached’ to it which must be re-allocated.

The New England Fishery Management Council is the primary federal body which controls quota allocation, and it already has a re-allocation mechanism in place. Several years ago, the Council voted that the harvesting rights attached to any permit surrendered to the government would be proportionally redistributed to all remaining permits in the fishery.

Though the Council perhaps did not envision a seizure of this magnitude, the mechanism actually works quite well here. Carlos Rafael has a long history of breaking a myriad of fishing rules, including quota-busting, violations of fishing time limits, closed area incursions, and false catch reporting to the government. The nearly twenty publicly available settlement agreements with the government follow a timeworn, repeat pattern: A violation, followed by a negotiated fine which is just the cost of doing business in a criminal enterprise.

Rafael stole from every other fisherman in New England. Over the last five years, his boats poached fish from waters off Downeast Maine to the Rhode Island coast. While everyone else was suffering under severe cuts to their allowable catch of cod and flounder, Rafael simply decided those cuts didn’t apply to him, and smuggled the fish ashore anyway.

So the Council’s re-allocation mechanism rewards those who play by the rules. If offers some relief to fishermen working under stringent catch limits which might be a bit higher if not for Rafael and his complicit captains. It buttresses the logic that as the crimes were committed throughout the region, relief should be distributed throughout the region as well.

The City of New Bedford believes Rafael’s thirteen permits should be confiscated, then locked to that port in perpetuity. This is an understandable position but is morally bereft. Locking the quota to that port denies redress to the vast majority of Rafael’s victims. The City of New Bedford has only benefitted from Rafael’s continuous criminal acts. It is unseemly to enjoy those benefits for twenty years then, once the scam is exposed, seize them for all time.

New Bedford is by far the nation’s richest fishing port and has been for at least a decade, landing $300-$400 million of seafood annually. In contrast, the entire New England groundfishery is presently worth $60 million. It is a vibrant and diverse waterfront which will not, by the Mayor’s own admission, succumb to Rafael’s misdeeds. And New Bedford will benefit from the Council’s mechanism, via quota re-allocation to other boats already based in that port. Everybody gains.

Neither the governing Council, nor the National Marine Fisheries Service which implements the Council’s policy directives, has ever contemplated restricting quota even to the New England states, never mind individual cities. Changes of that magnitude take years to develop and mountains of public input – which the Council already conducted, as part of its fishery management plan. The redistribution mechanism is already in place, it has passed legal muster, and – particularly in this case – it is just.

Board of Directors

The Sustainable Harvest Sector

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Foodstuffs: A ‘Dock to Dish’ Effort Meant to Support New Hampshire Fishermen

May 5, 2017 — Commercial ground fishermen on the east coast are struggling–so much so that there’s concern about whether they, and not the fish they catch, are an endangered species. An organization called New Hampshire Community Seafood is launching an effort to get more Granite Staters interested in eating local seafood, with the hope that it’ll provide a boost to fishermen. For our series Foodstuffs, NHPR’s Peter Biello reports.

On a quiet and foggy morning, commercial lobster fishermen Lou Nardello pulls his boat into a dock in Seabrook. The 60-year-old first began fishing 35 years ago. After a long break, he recently returned to this line of work.

“I guess you can’t get the ocean out of your system. It just stays there,” Nardello says. “You get older and realize it’s time to do what you want to do.”

What Nardello wants is to put a “full compliment of traps” out in the ocean and pull in a profitable catch. He says right now lobster prices are good.

“Nobody’s really catching much and everyone’s just getting going, so prices are pretty high,” he says.

But it’s tough for Nardello to know exactly how much he’ll make throughout the year. Prices will fluctuate as more lobsters hit the docks. To get fishermen like Nardello the best possible price, New Hampshire Community Seafood is hoping to stimulate demand in local seafood by getting more folks to join their Community Supported Fishery, or CSF. This CSF delivers seafood to its members the way a farm share doles out local tomatoes and spinach.

Read and listen to the full story at New Hampshire Public Radio

Updates from NOAA Fisheries

March 28, 2017 — Groundfish Days-at-Sea Leasing Deadline Extended to March 31

NOAA Fisheries announces an extension of the 2016 Days-at-Sea leasing deadline for the northeast multispecies fishery. If you hold a groundfish permit for 2016, you may submit DAS leases through March 31.

2017 At-Sea Monitoring Coverage Levels for Groundfish Sector Fishery

NOAA Fisheries announces that for fishing year 2017 the total target At-Sea monitoring coverage level is 16 percent of all groundfish sector trips.

This target coverage level is a two-percentage point increase from the 2016 coverage level (14 percent). As the target coverage level is set based on an average of

At-Sea monitoring data from the past three full groundfish fishing years, this level is set based on data from the 2013-2015 fishing years.

Federally funded observer coverage provided by the Northeast Fishery Observer Program to meet the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) requirements will partially satisfy the 16 percent coverage requirement. Sectors will therefore actually pay for At-Sea monitoring coverage on less than 16 percent of their groundfish trips, but the total will depend on the SBRM coverage rates, which are not yet out.

We expect to be able to reimburse sectors for some portion of their ASM costs. We do not yet have the information we need to determine the reimbursement rate. We were able to reimburse 85 percent of At-Sea monitoring costs in 2016, but expect the 2017 reimbursement rate to be lower.

Read the full story from at Wicked Local

Groundfisherman fear more federal regulations

March 23, 2017 — STONINGTON, Conn. — Groundfishermen at the Fishing Fleet in Stonington, those who catch flounder and a dozen other bottom feeding fish, fear federal regulators are trying to sink their livelihood by mandating more regulations.

“We don’t need somebody on our back every day to watch what we do. Now they want to put cameras on the boat,” said Bob Guzzo, of Southern New England Fisherman & Lobsterman’s Association.

Guzzo has been fishing the region for nearly four decades.

He said the New England Fishery Management Council wants to increase at-sea monitoring of groundfish, in order to verify what they catch and release.

Guzzo said the added cost of paying someone to monitor what happens on the boat, or even watch remotely by camera, doesn’t help them or the industry but only increases the cost of doing business.

Read the full story WFSB

RHODE ISLAND: RIDEM Announces Implementation of Phase 3 Groundfish Disaster Assistance Program

August 31, 2016 — The following was released by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management:

New regulations, implementing Rhode Island’s third phase (aka “Bin 3”) of the three-phase federal groundfish disaster assistance program, took effect on August 24, 2016.

For this Phase Three (“Bin 3”) Program, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) will disburse $705,658 in federal aid to provide additional assistance to those engaged in the Rhode Island groundfish community who were significantly affected by the groundfish disaster, namely:

(1) Current holders of federal permits [as of August 24, 2016] for the 43 commercial vessels, home-ported in Rhode Island [as of August 24, 2016], that received federal aid under the Bin 1 program;

(2) Captains and crew who worked aboard any of the 43 vessels and received federal aid under the Bin 2 program; and

(3) Captains and crew who worked aboard any of the 43 commercial vessels, meet the Bin 2 eligibility standards, but did not apply for consideration under the Bin 2 program.

Updated information on the Phase Three Program, including the regulations for the program, can be found at the DEM webpage titled “Groundfish Industry Economic Assistance and Development Programs,” which is here: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/fish-wildlife/marine-fisheries/groundfish-assistance.php.

For those individuals falling under the first two categories listed above, the only requirement will be to complete and return a Pre-Approval Form, which RIDEM is sending to all qualified individuals this week (week of August 29, 2016) via certified mail. The forms must be returned within thirty (30) days of receipt. If you feel that you are qualified under either of the first two categories, and do not receive a Pre-Approval Form by September 9, 2016, contact Robert Ballou at Robert.Ballou@dem.ri.gov, or 401-222-4700, ext. 4420.

For those captains and crew falling under the third category listed above, the 30-day application process will commence on September 1, 2016 and run through September 30, 2016. Application forms are available here: http://www.dem.ri.gov/pubs/regs/regs/fishwild/bin3capt.pdf. All completed applications must be postmarked by September 30, 2016, or hand-delivered by 4 pm on September 30, 2016.

For questions or further information on any aspect of the Phase Three Program, contact Robert Ballou at Robert.Ballou@dem.ri.gov, or 401-222-4700, ext. 4420.

Sharing survey work signals positive shift in government, fishermen relationship

August 9, 2016 — The announcement from NOAA on Tuesday that they will begin to transition the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s bottom trawl surveys from their research ship, the Henry B. Bigelow, to fishing industry vessels is a cause for celebration on the waterfront and represents a real opportunity to get the fishing industry in New England out of disaster mode. It is a bold decision but it is undoubtedly the correct one and, from an industry perspective, one that is long overdue.

Science Center director Dr. Bill Karp deserves enormous credit for setting this process in motion. It is a clear signal that NOAA wants to build trust and transparency, qualities that have not always been in evidence in its long and difficult relationship with the commercial fishing industry in New England.

The problems facing our fisheries are well documented. But amidst all the controversy, litigation and hard feelings surrounding fishery management, there is general agreement on one point: the need for better fishery science, to enable timelier, more accurate and more useful stock assessments. Maintaining healthy, sustainable fish stocks to support a robust commercial fishing industry are goals shared by all. Of course fishermen should be actively involved in the collection of survey data since the results determine how much fish they are permitted to catch.

We hear a great deal in the media about overfishing but the value of groundfish landings has declined by almost 50 percent since 2011. Yet the catch for several of our stocks is less than 50 percent of the quota because of regulatory constraints and catch limits that do not reflect what fishermen see out on the water. It is a fact that more fish are dying of old age in our waters than are coming ashore, largely as a result of scientific uncertainty. Fishermen continue to pay a heavy price for such uncertainty and many understandably feel as though they have become merely objects of regulation.

Read the full op-ed at the New Bedford Standard-Times

NEFMC Puts Out Call for Advisory Panel Applicants

August 2, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

Industry members who want to serve on one or more of the New England Fishery Management Council’s Advisory Panels (APs) still have time to submit applications. The deadline is Aug. 31, 2016.

“Our advisors are important to us,” said Council Executive Director Tom Nies. “They bring a wide range of experience and perspectives to the table and give us valuable insight into the practical, social, and economic implications of our actions.”

Selected AP members will be appointed to three-year terms running from January 2017 through December 2020.

IMPORTANT: Current advisors who want to continue serving on APs do not need to fill out new applications but MUST email Joan O’Leary at joleary@nefmc.org or fax a note to the Council at (978) 465- 3116 indicating their desire to remain on a particular panel.

Seats are available on the Council’s Habitat, Herring, Enforcement, Monkfish, Red Crab, Skate, Scallop, Whiting, and Groundfish APs, as well as the Groundfish Recreational Advisory Panel, commonly referred to as the RAP.

Potential qualified applicants include:

Commercial and recreational fishermen;
Seafood processors and dealers; and
Other industry stakeholders such as members of conservation groups, academia, or state and local
management agencies or boards.

Application forms and additional information are available here.

Maine fishermen testing a ‘game-changer’ for protected cod

July 25, 2016 — GEORGETOWN, Maine — Like many Maine fishermen, Bryan Kelley faces a dilemma as he looks to diversify beyond the lobster that account for the bulk of his catch.

To target pollock, which are relatively common in the Gulf of Maine, he has to fish in the same areas frequented by cod, a type of groundfish protected through strict federal catch limits.

“We literally have to stay away from the codfish,” Kelley said while standing on his 40-foot boat moored in the Five Islands harbor of Georgetown. “I could fill this with codfish if I wanted to, but that wouldn’t help anybody in this sector and that is not why we are out here.”

To help him catch the groundfish he wants and avoid the species he doesn’t, Kelley has begun experimenting with a contraption akin to a conventional fishing reel on steroids and with an electronic brain. The “automatic jigging machines” loaned to Kelley and a handful of other fishermen by The Nature Conservancy allow them to more accurately target the water column where pollock hang out and stay off the bottom where cod lurk. The machines’ simple hooks and lures also ostensibly reduce inadvertent “by-catch” of cod while avoiding other downsides of trawlnets and gill nets more commonly used by fishermen.

“That’s part of the draw of it: It’s the quickest and easiest I have ever rigged anything up in my life,” Kelley said.

Geoff Smith, marine program director at the Maine chapter of the The Nature Conservancy, said preliminary reviews of the machines have been largely positive.

“This project is really about helping fishermen target those healthy stocks (of fish) while avoiding the codfish to allow them to rebuild,” said Smith, whose organization owns several groundfish permits in the Gulf of Maine. “We really feel that these jigging machines, if fished properly, can be selective and have minimal impact on the seafloor. … And if they work for fishermen, we think they could be a real game-changer.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

AL BURCH: Governor should recognize value of Alaska groundfish industry

July 25, 2016 — My brother and I were some of the pioneers of the trawl fishery here in Kodiak. We started from scratch when the United States claimed a 200-mile zone. I remember the foreign fleets off our shores, and once they were replaced by U.S. vessels like ours, I remember how the trawl fishery for pollock and cod helped put the town back on its feet after the collapse of the crab and shrimp fisheries in the late 1970s. I am proud of the fact that the fishery I helped pioneer now supports a year-round fishing economy here in Kodiak.

Although I am retired now, I continue to follow how the fishery is run. And I am concerned.

In the past, when we were struggling to build the fishery, the state of Alaska was on our side. We worked hard together to build a fishery that was managed by scientific principles and research, with no overfishing. We pioneered putting observers on U.S. vessels, and unlike a lot of other fisheries here in Alaska we have had observers for roughly 30 years. We worked alongside the state and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to meet conservation and management challenges together, to ensure practical solutions that ensured an economically sustainable fishery for Kodiak and other Alaska coastal towns.

But now it seems that the state of Alaska is not concerned about the impacts of its decisions on the hard-working participants in this fishery and communities like mine that are dependent on groundfish.

Read the full opinion piece at Alaska Dispatch News

MASSACHUSETTS: State fisheries survey underway in Gulf of Maine

July 18, 2016 — SCITUATE, Mass. — Over the past seven years, Kevin Norton watched the number of commercial groundfish vessels working out of his home port drop precipitously from 17 in 2009, to just four today.

“If not for the (federal fisheries) disaster money, there’d be no one left,” Norton said about fishermen who catch New England’s most familiar species like cod, haddock and flounder.

On July 11, Norton stood at the wooden wheel of Miss Emily, his 55-foot dragger. He was the only groundfisherman leaving from Scituate Harbor that day. He said he’d be tied up at the dock like the other three if he hadn’t been selected by the state to help Division of Marine Fisheries scientists conduct eight months of scientific research.

“All of our lives depend on this (the scientific data used to set fishing quotas),” he said. “That’s why this survey is so important.”

Massachusetts received more than $21 million in federal fisheries disaster aid, most of which was distributed to fishermen. But the state kept some for research projects, including $400,000 for an eight month Industry-Based Survey of random tows throughout the Gulf of Maine, from Cape Cod Bay up to Portland, Maine, focusing on cod, but counting and cataloging the fish and other species they catch.

“Science is the key to getting it right,” said Matthew Beaton, the state secretary of Energy and the Environment. Beaton and state Department of Fish and Game Commissioner George Peterson were on board the Miss Emily July 11 and helped sort the catch.

The state survey is part of Gov. Charlie Baker’s promise to help fishermen answer some of the key questions plaguing fishery management, Beaton said. Fishermen contend they are seeing a lot of cod in the Gulf of Maine, but their observations don’t match NOAA stock assessments that show historically low populations. The disconnect, fishermen say, results from the federal government using a vessel and net that have had trouble catching cod and performing surveys in the wrong places at the wrong time of year.

While it catches and documents all species it encounters, the state survey was designed to evaluate the status of Gulf of Maine cod, said principal investigator and DMF fisheries biologist William Hoffman. Its timing — April to July and October to January — mirrors peak spawning times for this cod stock. Similar surveys were done from 2003 to 2007 and, with the summer work now complete, Hoffman said they have found fewer cod in the places they previously sampled and didn’t find any major aggregations in deep water areas.

“We really need to do this for at least three years before we can draw any solid conclusions,” Hoffman cautioned. “But right now, surveying at the same time, in the same area, (as the previous survey) we’re seeing less fish.”

The trip on July 11 netted just one cod.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times