Opportunity Knocks: The Potential
For a Revitalized Redfish Fishery
in the Gulf of Maine

by Dr. Erik Chapman

Historical Redfish fishery

You’ve probably heard of redfish, but what you might not know is that redfish was once an important New England fishery. Although redfish is a term used for many species of fish around the world, in the Gulf of Maine, redfish generally means Acadian redfish (Sebastes fasciatus); a schooling species between 8 and 12 inches long that can live nearly 60 years and is typically found in waters between 200 to 2,000 feet deep.

The New England Acadian redfish fishery began in the 1930’s and peaked with landings greater than 130 million pounds in 1942. The fishery developed as freezing techniques allowed for fish markets to be developed across the United States. Frozen Acadian redfish were caught, packed, shipped and sold in untapped markets thousands of miles from the coast and was particularly popular in the upper-midwest. There, Gulf of Maine redfish was sold as “Ocean Perch” and met the demand for an inexpensive fish to be served, for example, as part of the Catholic tradition of eating fish on Friday nights.

The strength of this market, combined with efficient fishing practices, the fact that redfish is long-lived, comes to maturity late and has a low reproductive rate, Acadian redfish became overfished as these distant markets were developed. Redfish landings began to decline dramatically in the mid-1940s, a decline that was made worse when the large otter trawlers (>150 gross registered tons) that were targeting redfish were forced to use larger mesh-sizes. Last year, just 3.7 million pounds of redfish were harvested from the Gulf of Maine and the demand for redfish has largely disappeared.

Population Recovery and a Future Fishery?

Today, changes in the politics and regulations in Northeast fisheries along with changes in the regional marine ecosystem, may be setting in motion a new chapter for Acadian redfish in the Gulf of Maine. Recent population estimates indicate that Acadian redfish stocks are recovering.

The recovery is strong enough that fisheries managers are now allowing for an increased sustainable catch for this species that, if fully exploited, could make it the third most heavily fished groundfish in New England. For fishermen, this means a new opportunity to make money, and in this era of increasingly restricted access to fish stocks within sustainably managed fisheries, new opportunities like this are few and far between.

But, what sort of opportunity is there for fishermen? A good opportunity exists only if the fish can be caught sustainably from the perspective of the fisherman’s business. Simply put: the costs of catching fish must balance favorably with the money fishermen can get at the market.

On the surface, it looks like Gulf of Maine redfish offers the opportunity to achieve the primary goals of a modern “sustainable marine fishery”: stable and persistent fish populations and economically viable fishing businesses. But can we achieve this goal? And, if so, how do we get there? To explore this question, more than 50 fishermen, fish dealers, fisheries managers, scientists, international experts, economists and social scientists gathered to discuss the risks, opportunities and challenges of developing a redfish fishery in the Gulf of Maine at the International Redfish Symposium, held last November in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Proceed with Caution?

Biologists at the Symposium cautioned against moving too quickly in revitalizing a redfish fishery. Dr. Steve Cadrin, Symposium participant and fisheries scientists from of the University of Massachussetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science (SMAST) explains, “Redfish has an extremely different life history (from other groundfish) which has very important implications for its productivity and resilience” to fishing. Acadian redfish are unique because they are long-lived, late-maturing, and have low reproductive and natural mortality rates. These are characteristics of a species that may not be able to withstand the type of fishing pressure that other groundfish species experience.

The cautionary message was echoed by fisheries scientists from countries with long-standing and current fisheries for species similar to the Acadian redfish. Dr. Alexandra Valentin from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Mont-Joli, Canada, highlighted the importance of understanding the distribution of different species and subspecies for achieving fisheries management goals. Dr. Kristjan Kristinsson from the Marine Research Institute in Reykjavik, Iceland, discussed examples in his country where redfish fisheries suffered long-term population crashes that hurt the fishing industry when stocks were overfished.

Fishing industry members quickly pointed out that the current catch is about 11 million pounds below the level deemed “sustainable” by fisheries managers. Biologists and managers agreed that we have other problems to consider before we need to worry about the risks of overfishing redfish. Most important, it appears the small amount of redfish that is caught today is meeting the current demand for redfish.

It’s the Market….

“Without development of a market, there is no point in landing more fish than we already are” points out Captain Mike Walsh, a Massachusetts fisherman who still targets redfish . “You can increase the catch all you want – all you’re going to do is decrease profits without a different market.” Fisher- men are now only getting 50 to 60 cents a pound for redfish, so there is little reason for them to try to catch more.

Dr. Dan Georgianna, an economics professor at SMAST adds, “The capacity of the market is restraining the price of redfish right now.” One option to expand the market, Georgianna says, “is to promote redfish as a low coast, high quality product that people can afford.”

But developing a market has its challenges. Right now there is limited processing capacity for redfish which, because of its unique size and shape, cannot be processed with other groundfish. Also, although redfish is a good tasting fish, it must be handled carefully and processed quickly because it tends to spoil more quickly than other fish.

The solution is not obvious, but a group of researchers, industry members and regulators, called REDNET (contact Mike Pol, mike.pol@state.ma.us) have formed and received a federal grant to find out how to make the most of the redfish opportunity for fishermen. In the meantime, the redfish quota and the redfish are out there waiting.

Dr. Erik Chapman
Extension Specialist
NH Sea Grant and UNH Cooperative Extension

Data from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center
www.nefsc.noaa.gov/sos/spsyn/pg/redfish/