The Northeast Seafood Coalition

Jackie Odell is the executive director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, a non-profit membership organization representing commercial groundfish fishermen, shore-side business owners and fishing community members. Ms. Odell describes how fishery management regulations are affecting the northeast fishermen and fishing industry.

Status

In the last two and a half years, the New England fishery has undergone four regulatory adjustments, known as “frameworks.” The most recent, Framework 42, implemented on November 22, 2006, has turned the New England groundfish fishery upside down.

Measures included in Framework 42 are meant to reduce fishing effort on two stocks: Gulf of Maine cod and Cape Cod Gulf of Maine yellowtail flounder. But, in the opinion of the Northeast Seafood Coalition and its members, such a reduction could have been achieved without threatening the livelihood of so many fishermen and their families. It is critical to note that in 2005, preliminary data showed that the fishery didn’t exceed any of the required fishing limits. The data also indicates that the fishery continues to under-harvest the vast majority of the remaining groundfish stocks. And by May 1, 2007, healthier year classes of these two stocks will be recruited into the fishery.

What does Framework 42 mean to our small, family-owned, fishing businesses? Ten years ago, a commercial fisherman had 176 days to fish. Now a fisherman has 48. And some fishermen in the Gulf of Maine will be required to count their fishing days at the rate of 2 to 1, reducing their fishing time to 24 days a year. Although ports across the northeast have their own issues with Framework 42, these reductions are nearly six times greater for fishermen fishing within the differential counting area in the Gulf of Maine.

With Framework 42, a majority of groundfish businesses situated along the Gulf of Maine will become insolvent. A permit holder simply does not have enough fishing days a year to keep his/her business profitable. The days-at-sea leasing program will not mitigate the profound economic impacts that are associated with these measures. The only hope for a small business is to focus its limited fishing time on one of the very stocks these measures claim to protect, Gulf of Maine cod.

The groundfish fishery doesn’t need more regulation, it needs a management system that can adequately regulate this highly dynamic and complex, multispecies fishery. It needs a system that is dedicated to true conservation and does not simply reallocate the fish to various user groups. The fishery needs a system that works for the fish and the people. The Northeast Seafood Coalition is dedicated to working on progressive alternatives that work to solve the real problems that exist within the multispecies fishery.

Northeast Groundfish

The following summary presents an overview of the status of two important groundfish species, according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA/NMFS).

Status

There are 15 species and 24 stocks of groundfish with Georges Bank cod and Georges Bank haddock among the best-known. As “transboundary” stocks they are influenced by both U.S. and Canadian fish management. With fishing rates much reduced from the record highs of the 1990s, NOAA’s recent groundfish stock assessment showed that fishing efforts on Georges Bank cod may finally be approaching a long-term sustainable rate. But the news is mixed, according to the NMFS. Their data suggests that the amount of young fish being added to the population has been well below the long-term average in recent years. The stock is increasing, but very slowly, and there is concern that the rate may slow even more unless the addition of young fish picks up.

The most recent assessment also shows Georges Bank haddock has experienced a major rebound. Fishing rates have been low over the past decade, and more fish are living through their first year. This has boosted the amount of spawners in the stock, and resulted in a record addition of one-year-olds to the stock in 2004.

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