In Mixed Catch, NF Senior Editor Linc Bedrosian spotlights a wide range of commercial fishing-related news items from coast to coast.
Monday, 03 September 2012
So the latest solution being floated to solve the woes of the New England groundfish fishery appears to be an approximately $100 million vessel/permit buyout program. Haven’t we seen this movie before?
Yes, we have, and one need look no further than the NF archives for confirmation. In 1995, lagging groundfish populations spawned a $2 million pilot program to buy out 13 New England groundfish boats with hopes of reducing fleet capacity by 2.6 percent.
Vessels bought through the program were to be scrapped to ensure that fleet capacity would truly be reduced. The only problem was that boat owners who scrapped their vessels turned around and bought new ones.
By 1997, the pilot program had been followed by a more ambitious $23 million buyout program that initially aimed to remove 100 boats, although that total was later revised to 75 to 80 boats. Between the two programs, it was estimated that fishing capacity would be reduced by up to 23.6 percent.
And yet some 15 years later, even with the recognition that climate change and ecosystem shifts are taking more of a toll on groundfish than fishermen are, officials are still slashing away at fishing capacity. A vessel/permit buyout plan may further reduce fishing capacity, but it’ll also eliminate jobs, at sea and in New England communities where fishing remains a vital economic force.
This election year, plenty will be said about the need to stimulate our domestic economy and create jobs. If only such talk would translate into plans to, for example, spend $100 million to improve stock assessments through collaborative efforts that would partner fishermen with scientists.
What New England’s small-boat fishermen and fishing communities need is help to make it through these tough times rather than programs that seem destined to eliminate them.
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
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