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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 3
November 2009
Scallopers irate over set-aside shortfall
NEWBURYPORT, MA – Framework Adjustment 21 to the federal scallop plan is proposing a few modifications to the industry’s observer set-aside program.
However, the current proposals, which have been in the pipeline since earlier this year, do not address industry’s most recent problem, which is this: The pool of days-at-sea and scallop poundage “set aside” for 2009 to help defray observer costs has run out.
At press time in late October, it still wasn’t clear whether it was feasible – or even desirable – to use Framework 21 to help prevent future shortfalls, but the possibility was being discussed.
The Atlantic sea scallop fishery is the only fishery on the East Coast where fishermen pay for observer coverage, which runs around $775 per day.
Under existing rules, 1% of each year’s projected scallop catch comes “off the top” to supply the observer set-aside pool. For 2009, the 1% broke down as follows:
Closed Area II Access Area – 58,000 pounds;
Elephant Trunk Access Area – 162,000 pounds;
Delmarva Access Area – 60,000 pounds; and
Open areas – 124 days-at-sea.
Scallopers selected to carry an observer have been allowed to harvest an extra 400 pounds of scallop meats per day-at-sea in access-areas or have been charged only 0.85 of a day-at-sea for open areas. The extra poundage and/or days come out of the set-aside pool.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) can adjust compensation rates each year but not the 1% off-the-top allocation to the set-aside pool itself. A change in the percentage would have to be made through a framework adjustment or plan amendment developed by the New England Fishery Management Council.
What happened?
This year’s trouble began not long after the March 1 start of the 2009 fishing year.
On April 30, NMFS issued a scallop permit holder letter announcing that the observer set-aside for the Elephant Trunk area was fully utilized. As of May 5, scallopers were still required to carry observers into the area if asked to do so, but they were no longer allowed to land the extra 400 pounds per day to offset observer costs. The news stunned nearly everyone.
Then, NMFS issued another permit holder letter on June 10 announcing that it was reducing the observer set-aside allowance for Closed Area II from 400 pounds per day to 200 pounds to better match fishery conditions and, secondarily, to stretch out the available set-aside and prevent a repeat of the Elephant Trunk debacle.
As it turned out, NMFS closed the Closed Area II Access Area fishery on June 29 to prevent scallopers from exceeding their yellowtail flounder allocation. Vessels with unused trips were allocated an additional 7.9 open-area days in exchange.
By Aug. 18, NMFS, through another permit holder letter, announced that the 2009 observer set-aside for Delmarva also was fully utilized. As of Aug. 25, anyone asked to carry an observer into the area would have to do so at their own expense without the additional 400 pounds per day of compensation.
Finally, in what triggered the biggest outrage of all, NMFS announced on Sept. 1 that the open-area days-at-sea set-aside also was used up. As of Sept. 9, anyone asked to carry an observer during an open-area trip would have their days counted 1-for-1 instead of at the 0.85 rate.
NMFS response
Scallopers directed their anger at NMFS, demanding to know why the agency hadn’t better projected set-aside usage, monitored the amount of compensation being used in real-time, and then adjusted compensation rates early on.
When asked about the situation in mid-October, Hannah Goodale, NMFS’s scallop team supervisor in Gloucester, said, “This year and in previous years, we have tried to set observer compensation rates at a level that would fully cover the costs of observers.”
Yet this year proved to be more of a challenge because 1% of the projected catch ended up being a smaller number than in past years, which in turn reduced the size of the set-aside pool.
“Given the amount of set-aside available this year, we should have set the compensation at a lower rate, which wouldn’t have covered the full observer trip cost but would have maintained partial compensation for the entire year,” said Goodale.
She also said that NMFS is working to prevent a repeat of the problem.
“We’re going to revisit our calculations for next year in order to have compensation available all year,” Goodale said. “In addition, the council could consider increasing the percentage of the total catch that is allocated to the observer set-aside,” either through Framework 21 or some other action.
Congress speaks
NMFS’s effort to fix the problem for next year did not deter many scallopers from going straight to Congress with their frustration. This led US Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), who had written a letter back in June about the set-aside situation, to write another letter on Oct. 5 to Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, demanding action.
This time, the two were joined by four other congressmen: Rep. Robert Wittman (R-VA); Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA); Rep. James Langevin (D-RI); and Rep. John Adler (D-NJ).
“The recent breakdowns in the observer compensation program are not a failure of industry,” wrote the congressmen. “To require fishermen to pay for this coverage without promised compensation is not an acceptable alternative and unfair.”
The congressmen said they appreciated the fact that compensation rates may need to change and “are based on anticipated fishery conditions.” But, they added, “This program has been in place for almost nine years and there should be few surprises.”
The letter to Lubchenco concluded, “We strongly urge you to take immediate, necessary action to fund this program until an appropriate set-aside management approach can ensure the proper compensation to scallop vessels and their crews.”
Framework 21 changes
The two observer set-aside proposals contained in Framework 21 do not directly address the compensation problem but may help prevent the set-aside pool from running dry so quickly.
The first proposal is to prohibit vessels from “not paying” for observers. At present, vessels can continue to fish even if they have an outstanding observer bill. The framework proposes to prevent this from happening in the future by directing NMFS to not issue a scallop permit to a vessel in the fishing year after an outstanding bill was due.
The second proposal is directed at general category fishermen who make access-area trips and carry observers.
General category vessels are limited to possessing only 400 pounds per trip. They receive an additional 400 pounds per day for carrying an observer.
The council became aware of a loophole in the program, which put additional strain on the observer set-aside pool. Some general category boats were leaving on a trip at roughly one minute before midnight on day one, fishing on day 2, and, sometimes, landing on day two, giving them 400 pounds for the trip plus 400 pounds for each of the two days it technically carried an observer, resulting in a 1,200-pound trip. Some vessels stretched this to three days, ending their trip one minute after midnight on day three, giving them 400 pounds for the trip plus 400 pounds for each of three days for the observer – a grand total of 1,600 pounds.
The council is proposing to tighten this loophole by capping the amount of compensation a general category boat could receive, possibly at two days.
For more information on other Framework 21 proposals, including 2010 fishery specifications, measures to reduce interactions with turtles, and a potential new closure in the Great South Channel, see story previous page.
Janice M. Plante
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