The 2010 catch share commodification of the Northeast groundfishery, hailed by advocates including NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco as a sure path to restoring overfished stocks and profitability for the fleet, has had the opposite effect on Gulf of Maine cod, according to the state's director of marine fisheries.
The habit of bigger offshore boats to accumulate catch shares in Gulf of Maine cod and capitalize on pulses of the cod with landings far larger than 800 pounds has "significantly contributed to declines in local abundance" of the essential fish for the day boats, state fisheries chief Paul Diodati said in a memo sent Feb. 5 to the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission and obtained by the Times.
Diodati wrote the memo to explain his decision not to allow the fleet of about 20 full-time state permitted boats access to closed areas inside the state-federal border, three miles from shore. He was asked to give the state fleet access to the closed areas in a meeting with representatives of the state fleet in December.
The appeal for access to the state's closed areas from the state-permitted boats was predicated on the complaint that the big boats operating with large allocations of quota were leaving next to nothing for them. One of the contingent that appealed for relief from Diodati was Don King, a Gloucester lobsterman and state permitted groundfisherman.
"In the days-at-sea system," said King in an interview Wednesday, "when we had trip limits, were rebuilding the cod stocks like crazy."
But since the onset of catch share trading in the commodity system by members of fishing cooperatives known as sectors, formulated by the council in the years since Congress in 2007 mandated hard catch limits beginning in 2010, cod stocks' strong revival ended, and the possible death spiral of the industry began. In shore cod landings were are proposed to drop 77 percent this year, beginning May 1, and off shore, Georges Bank cod landings are set to be cut 61 percent.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times>>
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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