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Baker Says Public Wants Reform
Baker, a fisherman who has been active in the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, the CHOIR fishermen’s coalition, and was chosen last year to lead the recently formed Herring Alliance, said the NEFMC has been asking what the public wants, and they want accountability from the herring trawler fleet. At a time when ground fishermen are being busted for having 10 pounds of the wrong fish on board, 20 pounds too many scallops, or a short lobster, the mid-water trawler fleet has , said Baker, “regulations so lax they can dump bags holding tons of fish at sea even if there is an observer aboard.” He quoted Amy Van Aften, head of the observer program, who said the fleet is allowed 10% of the time to dump entire bags, and 6% of the time part of a bag. That decision can be made because they don’t like the contents, or the mix of too many other species, etc. Captains use the hail method of estimating landings, they say they have about “X” tons aboard, but it is not weighed. “Landings do not reflect catch because they don’t count dead discards from dumped bags. We have no idea what the catch is because there is no accountability.” It remains to be seen if the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will direct the resources needed to carry through on an effective observer program. Baker mentioned other options for gaining accountability. In the western states: They require full retention of the catch. The volume and type of by-catch is therefore no longer a mystery. They also have cameras on board to help monitor what is taken or discarded. Sampling of landings is done at the wharf. Baker said the mid-water fleet response to complaints about their practices has been to say critics are sensationalizing the story and that critics are on a witch hunt. “When I was at CHOIR we tried to sit down with the mid water fleet representatives, but they said no. We offered to fly them to Washington to ask for more observers, but they said no to that. When video monitoring was offered they refused”, said Baker. Many in the fishing community have come forward to make comments at public hearings in support of more oversight and regulation of the mid-water fleet. Baker said the fishermen who have gone to the meetings and commented says a lot about the issue. “At all the public hearings not one of the pro fleet speakers works on a mid-water trawler, it is always their paid professional spokesmen”, said Baker. The mid-water fleet has said they want more observers. However, said Baker “Glen Robbins has a camera on his herring boat the Western Sea. But he was not allowed to offload in New Bedford if he didn’t take the camera off his boat.” Tighter monitoring is apparently possible. Alaska has what Baker referred to as a highly regulated purse seine only herring roe fishery. Canada’s Department of Fisheries Office considered mid-water trawler permits for inshore. That resulted in large protests by fishermen. The new government that come in did not give permits to mid-water trawlers. At issue is long term bait supply, enough herring forage for the many species, including ground fish, that depend on it, and the reduction in the bycatch of protected species that other fishermen are not allowed to catch. Dr. William Overholtz reports new science from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute shows 50 predator species depend on herring. The projections for what predators need had been at 200,000 tons, but that number is now believed to be 400,000 tons. The herring resource, according to Overholtz, has to be managed for all the species that depend on it not just for the harvest. |
