 Herring weir, Grand Manan, Cabada. Herring ordinarily are fished at night. They pour into weirs built of poles driven into mud bottom and enclosed with nets. They dipped or pumped out into herring carriers. Photo "Seining The Victory Weir" Credit: ©Tim Peters - Rhythm of the Tides.
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A lobster bait shortage in Maine was the leading issue at a “days out” meeting here. The meeting was called to set the days herring could be fished this fall. The marine resources departments of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met at the New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife building to set the remaining days that herring can be fished. The nearly full room, with tri-state representation, was a result of recent fresh lobster bait shortages.
The meeting was part of the process used to schedule harvests over the season. The effort is designed to get a continuous flow of product to the market. A tightening of the fresh bait supply over the last month has had Maine lobstermen very concerned as they head into the better part of the lobster fishing season.
The shortage is a result of multiple factors. The herring total allowable catch (TAC) was 45,000 metric tons for the first time this year. That is down from 50,000 MT last year, and 60,000 MT the year before. Last year the Canadian herring fishery brought in 30,000 MT to the U.S., but none was available this year. Typically Canada supplies about 15,000 MT.
A lot of herring was caught during the summer and some of that was frozen. The Massachusetts midwater trawler fleet freezes herring for export. There has been an estimated 4,000 metric tons of frozen herring available.
However, many lobstermen don’t use it, either because they think it does not fish as well as fresh bait, or there is no distribution network established for frozen lobster bait, said Terry Stockwell of Maine’s Department of Marine Resources.
How and when the TAC is divided up, caught, and landed is the issue. There is herring out there. Wrestling over the supply, especially for Maine, the biggest consumer, was, in Stockwell’s words, “herring hell. ”Massachusetts wants more days out later in the season, but Maine wants more days earlier to cover the lobster season. The distribution of the days when herring can be landed, which determines when and how much of the 45,000 MT TAC will be available, was at the heart of the debate.
The Herring fishing season begins January 1, and runs until the quota is used up, usually around mid-November. A meeting in January allots about 5,000MT for the first six months. Then another meeting is held in June to decide on the days for the remaining half. Since the TAC reduction there is a meeting to decide on the days for the remaining quarter of the TAC. That was the meeting in Durham on September 24th.
A Landing Law
The days out fishing regulation is not a fishing law, but a landing law. Fish can only be landed on the days specified. Herring trawlers and seiners can fish on other days, but can only land their catch on specified days. In the past there was a 6pm departure time on a given day, and a 6pm return time three days later. A “gentlemen’s agreement” held that there would be no fishing going out and coming in. But, Dana Rice, of D.A. Rice Fisheries, Winter Harbor, said that that is no longer the case. With the tighter restrictions the boats are fishing the whole time they are out, and this accounts, at least in part, for the TAC being run out sooner.
The projected herring catch for the month of September was 2,000 MT, but only 550 MT was taken. Weather interfered with the herring fleet getting out some this season. But there was a lot of bait available in July and August. Without the bad weather, it was estimated the quota would have been reached by October 1st.
Some at the meeting thought redistributing the days out would take pressure off shortages for Maine lobstermen. But those changes would have to be discussed at a meeting for the 2009 season.
Seeking ITQ’s
The trawler fleet would like to have an ITQ system, where they would be given a quota. Since their recent catches have been large, they would get a large quota. This however, would reduce competition. In addition, some view ITQ’s as a system that could put too much control of the herring supply, and the market, in the hands of a few corporations. Concerns have been expressed that the flow of fresh bait could be intentionally restricted to impact price. Frozen herring, for example, could be held in freezers waiting for a price rise.
The Magnusen-Stevens Act calls for the management of all fisheries to be done in ways that is best for the nation. However, at the same time consolidation is a part of federal fisheries policy in it’s attempts to control over-fishing. A policy widely believed to be not only a failure, but a part of the problem in over-fishing. None-the-less, it makes the threat of an ITQ system in the herring fishery real.
Bait dealers have mixed reactions to the agreement reached in Durham. Some dealers are out of stock. Chris Byers at DC Air and Seafood in Winter Harbor, said he sought sources in Canada as supplies dwindled. He was able to find herring, but the shortage here in the US has driven up the price. “We haven’t been out, we’ve had a steady supply, but it’s an expensive steady supply. I wanted to have a supply available for those who wanted it”, said Byers. He has been getting cod racks and pogies as well, to fill in the gaps.
Byers’ sources in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have been from gill netters. These herring are not pumped, so they still have the scales on them. With the scales on, Byers said they don’t take the salt as well and therefore don’t last as long as the bait they had been getting.
The total allowable catch this season has 13,500 MT remaining. It is that remainder that was divided up at the Durham meeting. Considerations included seasonal demand, distribution, area availability.
Maine wants the herring now for fresh bait. Massachusetts wanted the distribution later in the season. According to Terry Stockwell, “the problem is a fresh bait problem, not a bait problem.”
The days selected as days when herring can be fished are:
October 1, 8, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29.
November 4, 5, 11, 12.
It was projected that 2,000 MT would be taken each of these nights. Considering that weather may come into play, it was expected that the herring fleet will fish until early November. Last year the Canadian weir fishery took up the slack, but there was nothing this year. No one has come up with an answer to why there was no Canadian herring this year.
The once a week herring landing schedule is seen by some fishermen, and dealers, as problematic. It makes it tough for dealers to plan. If weather shuts off the planned day, then it will be a long two weeks between bait supplies. In the past, when the TAC was 60,000 MT, there were three or four days a week, now it is typically two days a week, and this fall one day a week. Last year they landed three days a week to half-way in the season, then slowed to two days to make the bait last.
This shortage comes at a particularly difficult time.
All this as the height of the lobster season begins. High fuel costs and low lobster prices have had lobstermen on edge all summer. The pressure is on for a good season.
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