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Fine-tuned Governance Needed On Groundfish by Laurie Schreiber
Comments were made to the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) at their Ellsworth hearing recently, as the NEFMC conducts scoping hearings on Draft Amendment 16 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The amendment will consider alternative management measures. The deadline for submitting alternative measures is 5 p.m., Dec. 29. “There’s a growing interest in alternatives to the current days-at-sea management system,” said plan coordinator Tom Nies. NEFMC decided to do a full amendment rather than a framework adjustment because an amendment can accommodate a full range of alternatives, Nies said. Several organizations said they welcome the chance to work with NEFMC. “We recognize we can’t go back to the way we used to fish,” said Bob Rosenbaum of the Penobscot East Resource Center (PERC) in Stonington. The consensus among industry organizations was that localized management would be needed to bring back fish stocks. Down East fishermen have been developing a localized approach for the past couple of years. PERC executive director Robin Alden, co-chair of the Area Management Coalition, said the experience of lobster fishermen in the formation of lobster management zones and the ensuing differences in various strategies along the coast speaks well for the potential of localized governance in the groundfishery. Midcoast fishermen have begun signing on to the localized approach in response to this year’s emergency 1.4:1 DAS counting measure, said Glen Libby, chairman of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association (MFA). MFA, the Down East Initiative, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and other groups are part of the recently formed Area Management Coalition, which comprises 38 representatives of 11 organizations and welcomes others. “The thought was, ‘If we are getting this forced down our throats due to discards of cod, and we are not discarding cod, this does not seem fair.’” Libby said of the DAS counting measure. “By the same token, for us to come up with a plan for the guys who fish in southern New England or on Georges Bank would not seem fair to us either.” Fishermen from one area should not presume to tell other areas how to fish, Libby said. “The bottom line is, fishermen for the most part are quite territorial and they tend to stay in the same areas,” he said. “They know what is happening in an area, where the fish live, and where the spawning grounds are. The only way that a plan will work, that encompasses the entire range that the council manages under an area management scheme, is to have local input for different areas.” A16 is the latest development in efforts to rebuild failing groundfish stocks. Amendment 13 revised target biomass levels and fishing mortality limits, and adopted rebuilding strategies for overfished stocks. The amendment cut DAS, limited the use of some DAS to programs that target healthy stocks, and adopted measures to protect essential fish habitat. Most recently, Framework 42 further reduced fishing on seven stocks. A13 calls for a review of rebuilding progress and adjustments at the beginning of the 2009 fishing year. Assessments are planned in 2008, at which point adjustments to fishing mortality will be made for overfished stocks. A13 has additional DAS changes to accomplish these adjustments, but how to do that will be something of a guess, said Nies. In A16, NEMFC may consider adjustments to the current effort controls such as DAS, closed areas, gear requirements, trip limits and recreational measures; and alternative management systems, such as a hard total allowable catch system, area management, individual quotas, or fishery sectors. The process is fraught with uncertainty. For example, Gulf of Maine cod did not grow as fast as estimated; recruitment is lower than expected. But the 2003 year class look good; if this is true, rebuilding could be back on track in 2008. Plaice has declined since 2001, but there may have been a couple of pretty big year classes. If so, plaice could be ahead of schedule by 2008. Cape Cod/GOM yellowtail flounder is behind its rebuilding schedule. Although scientists think a fairly good year class is coming, the fish is not expected to be on track by 2008. What is known at this point, Mr. Nies said, is that some stocks remain overfished and some are likely to remain so by the time the adjustment period come around. Jim Wilson, professor at the UMaine School of Marine Sciences and co-chair of the Down East Initiative, said his group will be submitting a localized plan as a pilot project to NEFMC. “Basically, we have no fish and we have no fishermen,” Wilson said. Although the Down East coast is part of the Gulf of Maine, its biological circumstances are very different and should be treated so, Wilson said. Down East communities once depended on diversity of livelihood, including groundfishing, he said. Communities now depend mostly on lobster; if the lobster fishery hiccups, he said, social and economic consequences could be devastating. Most of the region’s groundfishery infrastructure is gone, as well as business ties with the rest of the market. The localized area model, he said, is expected to be applicable to any other New England area, including the offshore fishery, he said. Notable points about the proposal, he said, include its finer-scale approach to local ecology, which results in localized management and local stewardship. Major goals of the proposal, he said, will be to rebuild Down East groundfish stocks and provide regional access to groundfish for fishermen in Down East communities without creating a net increase in total New England fishing effort. It will be necessary to define areas on a finer scale and determine boundaries based on ecological and biological uniqueness, he said. Local governance through area-specific rules and real- time catch data-collection would be integral to tracking the status of the fish, he said. Ralph Snyder, vice president of the Island Institute in Rockland, said his organization’s goal is to support industry efforts to get their proposals across to NEFMC. “It’s a history of mistrust that needs to be overcome,” Snyder said. Development of alternatives is scheduled for 2007. New proposals, NEFMC says, should state the method of allocation for individual, gear, or other sectors, and area TAC distributions for Category A DAS permit holders in the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Southern New England range. Proposals may be less dependent on input controls such as effort closures and trip limits and create a closer link between allocation and catch. Proposals should include a mechanism for accountability of all catch. The draft environmental impact statement is expected to go to pubic hearing by June or July 2008. A new stock assessment is scheduled for August 2008, at which point new biomass estimates and new fishing mortality targets will be recalculated. New regulations are expected to be implemented by May 1, 2009. It seems like a comfortable period of time to get the work done, said Nies, but time is actually short. It took five years to complete Amendment 13, he pointed out. Amendment 16 which, unlike A13, considers revising the management system itself, could be more involved. “The industry and the council need to stay focused,” he said. The process will be made more challenging, he said, because the stock assessment will not be completed until after proposed management measures have gone out to hearings. Accordingly, he said, the amendment will be structured to accommodate the assessment findings. Alternatives must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Dec. 29. “The key to it all is the fishermen and their lives and their commitment to fishing as a way of life,” said Ted Hoskins Comments may be sent to: Paul Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water St., Mill No. 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; comments@nefmc.org (attention/subject line: Multispecies Amendment 16 scoping comments); 978-465-0492; fax 978-465-3116. For more information, visit www.nefmc.org. |
