Regime shift
With management by sectors a done deal, New Englanders must figure out how to make them work
By Linc Bedrosian
"Are you in or out?"
George Clooney's character asks that question of his prospective partners-in-crime in the movie "Ocean's Eleven." But in New England's beleaguered groundfish fishery, the question has a little different meaning.
The New England Fishery Management Council voted in June to bring sector management to the fishery next May. Long before then, however, groundfish harvesters had to decide whether to join a sector — a group of fishermen who receive an allotment of the total allowable catch based on their collective catch history — or fish in the common pool under the present effort control system.
Harvesters had to commit to joining a sector before final operations plans were submitted by Sept. 1, even though they won't know what the annual catch limits or their share of it will be until November. Right now, it's difficult to determine whether they will fare better in a sector or in the common pool. Count Hampton, N.H., fisherman and New England council member Dave Goethel among those who don't know which route they'll take.
"I haven't decided what I'm doing. I have two permits that are basically worthless," Goethel says. "I'm going to have to really look at this carefully."
The good news is that signing up for a sector doesn't mean you have to stay in it. If, before the final rule is published (likely in December), a fisherman decides he's better off in the common pool, he can leave the sector. But if you haven't already joined a sector, you won't be able to do so until the next fishing year.
Sector proponents say the system relieves fishermen from the ever-tightening regulations that have shackled them as fishery managers have tried to meet Magnuson-Stevens Act stock rebuilding requirements. Yet years of cutting days at sea and implementing other effort controls haven't sufficiently rebuilt stocks.
Hence the need, advocates say, for a new management system. And by the time the council began Amendment 16 deliberations, frustrated New England fishermen who for years had opposed quota share programs resigned themselves to developing a sector management program.
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
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.
The Northeast Regional Planning Body, a group of state, tribal and federal representatives from New England who are working to implement the National Ocean Policy and address critical New England ocean issues, is holding a series of public meetings in May and June.
The meetings are being held to discuss draft regional ocean planning goals and associated potential actions. The planning body seeks input on these goals and actions. Additional information on the group's progress can be found here.
The meetings will also provide an opportunity to review draft maps and products from initial efforts to gather information on the natural resources and diverse uses of the ocean, including fishing, transportation, energy and infrastructure, aquaculture, and recreation.
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