Update Eyed on Vessel Upgrade Restrictions

by Laurie Schreiber

The proposed action would eliminate gross and net tonnage specifications, and remove the one-time upgrade restriction. The proposed amendment “gives me reason to pause and doubt the proposed action. It has the benefits you suggest, but there are some consequences here that run contrary to what we’re trying to accomplish with groundfish.”- NEFMC member David Pierce   Laurie Schreiber photo

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According to the presentation, most northeast limited access fisheries have vessel upgrade restrictions. The purpose is to limit increases in harvest capacity. For example, if a vessel, because of increased size, were to land more fish, that contravenes the fishery management plan’s intentions.

Vessel replacement restrictions were first implemented in the groundfish and Atlantic sea scallop fisheries in conjunction with the creation of limited access programs in 1994. NMFS also implemented similar restrictions in other fisheries in the years that followed and, in 1999, the omnibus Consistency Amendment expanded and standardized the upgrade restrictions to most Northeast limited access fisheries.

But effort controls and annual catch limits (ACLs) have since been implemented, which means that upgrade restrictions, a burden to the industry, can be simplified without undermining conservation.

Current regulations require a replacement vessel or an upgrade made to an existing vessel be within 10 percent of the size (length overall, net tonnage, and gross tonnage) and 20 percent of the horsepower, of the permit’s baseline vessel.

The baseline vessel is typically the first vessel issued a limited access permit for a specific fishery. Permit holders may only upgrade their size and horsepower specifications once. For example, a vessel owner that has a 60-foot baseline length would be limited to upgrading to a vessel of up to 66 feet. If he were to move his permit to a 62-foot vessel for any reason, that would constitute his one-time upgrade and he would lose the ability to later upgrade to a vessel of 66 feet.

He would only be able to move his permit to a vessel of 62 feet or less. He would still be able to upgrade his horsepower by 20 percent. The proposed action would eliminate gross and net tonnage specifications, and remove the one-time upgrade restriction.

NEFMC member David Pierce, the proposed amendment “gives me reason to pause and doubt the proposed action. It has the benefits you suggest, but there are some consequences here that run contrary to what we’re trying to accomplish with groundfish. If this omnibus goes forward as proposed, there will be a great deal of discussion regarding fleet diversity and consolidation issues.”

But another NEFMC member said that many vessel owners are hamstrung by restrictions that capped vessel and engine size increases. “This has been a conversation for a while,” said one fisherman. “There’s probably a split between the small boat fleet and the large boat fleet that probably is not getting sufficiently considered. The Magnuson plan put us into little boxes and we got small to survive. Now the Magnuson plan is saying, If you’re smart you better get out of that box and get diversified. But your boat and this 10 percent upgrade is limiting your ability to diversify and to provide for your future. I think this impacts the small boats significantly. We’re saying, You can get another boat but you can’t appreciably change your business model. So you’re dooming people to not survive. I agree with getting rid of the one-time upgrade, but for small boats you’ve got to look at 20 or 25 percent. Crews are good at figuring out which boat can bring in the most fish and the most money. It becomes a function of size. I urge you to give this full consideration and think about the small-boat fleet. Because our considerations are very different from larger boats. And when you work on percentages, it skews very differently when you’re under 50 feet.”

Gary Hatch, a fisherman from Owls Head, said the current regulations prevent small-boat owners from taking advantage of permits more suited for a big boat.

“Now, with the way we’ve gone with groundfish, I can lease the days to a big boat, but I can’t fish them on a big boat that I own,” Hatch said.

NEFMC member Mary Beth Tooley noted the discussion will be complicated by new U.S. Coast Guard safety regulations coming down the pike. It is expected the regulations will affect a large majority of vessels in the northeast because the region’s fleet is old, Tooley said.

The goals is to have the final rule ready for implementation on May 1, 2015.

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