C O M M E N T A R Y

Now is the Time to
Protect Fleet Diversity

by Aaron Dority

Will groundfishing become a fishery that’s only available to the largest quota owners in the biggest ports, or will the New England Fishery Management Council cap the accumulation of quota and enact incentives to protect fleet diversity? This is the question before fishery managers today.

Some say that we shouldn’t point the finger at sectors as the consolidation culprit because consolidation began long before Amendment 16 – and they’re right, to an extent.

Between 2001 and 2007, Maine’s groundfishery shrunk by 45 percent—much of that occurring in ports east of Portland. But, what is quickly forgotten is that sector allocation created winners and losers. Some fishermen were held to lower trip limits because of where they fished. Others were constrained by rolling closures, or they lived in places where the fish were scarce (or nonexistent) between 1996 and 2006.

Finally, some fishermen bought permits within the last few years and fished hard until 2010 when they learned that their permits had days at sea, but terrible catch history. Now, the winners are saying, “Let’s let the free market run its course.”

But what about those fishermen who didn't get much quota because of all those circumstances which were out of their control? So far they’ve been told, “Oh well. You’re out of luck.”

There’s a better approach if we’re willing to discuss accumulation caps and fleet diversity protections. The council called the 2010 fishing year results “very encouraging.” Given the fact that catch limits were reduced between 16 percent to 55 percent, it was impressive that overall revenues for all species were up in 2010.

But who caught those fish? Where were they landed? These details matter.

The NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s 2010 interim report found that, “During 2007-2010, groundfish revenues became increasingly more concentrated in the highest-earning 20 percent of vessels, increasing from 66 percent in 2007 to 75 percent in 2010. Most of this increase occurred between 2009 and 2010.”

The vessel owners in the top 20 percent have a lot of purchasing power, and there’s nothing preventing them from swallowing up permits in the bottom 80 percent. Meanwhile, the number of vessels that landed groundfish was down 34 percent in Rhode Island, down 42 percent in New Bedford, and down 46 percent in Maine (down 50 percent in small ports). Sure, landings were down overall due to lower catch limits, but these declines were way above average. Will fishery managers take the steps needed to secure a future for groundfishing in Maine, Rhode Island and New Bedford?

In June, the council held a workshop to explore ways that managers could set accumulation limits and fleet diversity measures. Ideas included quota set-asides for new entrants, individual accumulation limits for different stocks, and incentives to keep quota leasing affordable. Participants agreed that these issues should be approached carefully and evaluated against goals that the council has already set. The options are wide open at this point, and the council needs fishermen’s ideas and suggestions so that it can create the most effective policies.

Some council members are concerned about new entrant set-asides. But, a set-aside could simply come from a portion of the rebuilding fish stocks rather than from anyone’s existing annual catch entitlement (ACE). Likewise, accumulation caps can either require anyone who exceeds the limit to immediately divest ACE, or the caps can grandfather in the first generation and kick in once permits are sold to the next generation. The fact is that we’re not the first to wrestle with these issues. It’s been done before in other quota-managed systems.

History shows that it’s a lot easier to protect fleet diversity now, while we still have diversity, rather than waiting for consolidation to run its course.

We need to keep in mind that the council has set goals in Amendments 13 and 16, and voted several times since then reaffirming those goals to protect fleet diversity, including diversity of gear type, geography, and vessel size class. This is not a time to let large quota holders stall the process—they already have a generous share of the historic New England fishery.

The council has started scoping for public comments on a new amendment to set accumulation limits. Now is the time for all fishermen—big boats and small, rural fishermen and those from big ports, hook fishermen, gillnetters and draggers—to weigh in and help move this process forward.

Aaron Dority is the Downeast Groundfish Initiative Director, Penobscot East Resource Center, and the Sector Manager, Northeast Coastal Communities Sector.