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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 5
January 2006
NMFS’s tight hold stymies winter bluefin fishery
BRUNSWICK, ME - With yet another dismal New England bluefin fishery in the history books, all eyes have been focused on the winter fishery off Virginia and the Carolinas.
Over the last few years, the winter fishery has been growing in size, and the industry along the East Coast was hopeful this year would follow that trend. With plenty of quota available as of the second week of December, it was possible the fishery’s general category could stay open through Jan. 31, the close of the fishing year.
According to Charlie Pereira, a fisherman from North Carolina, the fish started showing up in the first week of December. While some bluefin had probably been around for longer, high fuel prices had severely hindered local fishermen’s ability to make scouting trips.
“Fuel is so expensive that most guys have refrained from committing to looking for the fish,” Pereira explained.
While late, it seemed that the fish finally arrived and, in time, would do so in full force. Thirty-six fish were landed over Dec. 7 and 8.
The fact that the fishery in the north has taken a downturn caused some New Englanders to again make the trip south. While many slips had been rented, spots remained for boats interested in heading south. Anyone with a general or charter/headboat category permit is allowed to partake in the winter fishery, and Pereira encouraged them to do so.
Robert Fitzpatrick, a Chatham, MA-based fish buyer, explained that the North Carolina fishery is very different from the New England fishery in that there is no chumming. It’s all trolling. In New England the predominant fishing methods are trolling squid rigs or mackerel, chumming either on anchor or at drift, using swimming live bait, and harpooning.
“They don’t do that in the winter,” Fitzpatrick said of the North Carolina fishery. “It’s all about trolling ballyhoo with a skirt over it. Not on the surface but real deep.”
This is due in large part to the abundance of sharks and dogfish that render any attempts to chum futile.
“It’s more of a 5-to-5 fishery in winter,” Fitzpatrick said. “Guys come in at night and don’t stay out like they do in New England.”
The differences do not end there, though. In New England, particularly the Gulf of Maine, trips of 40-50 miles each way to the fishing grounds is often the norm. In North Carolina, the fish are often right off the beach by just a handful of miles.
“While in the past the action was out of Hatteras, recently Morehead City has been the port of choice, because the fish have shown up off Cape Lookout, and Morehead City is a lot closer,” explained Pereira.
For the most part, he added, “The fish are within 20 miles from the inlet.”
Making up lost $
Fitzpatrick had set up operations in North Carolina to try and make up some lost income. He was not alone, pointing out that three of the major buyers from New England had gone to North Carolina this winter.
Fitzpatrick, whose business was strong before the drop in bluefin catches in New England, explained how it is almost impossible to make any money the way things are in North Carolina.
“Renting out local buildings is one drawback,” he said. “Also, the two or three local fish buyers get fish from an overwhelming majority of the boats.”
The market, according to dealers, has potential.
“Wild fish are a preferred commodity this time of year,” said Fitzpatrick. “The sushi market in Japan is forced to buy farmed fish from the Mediterranean, and they would much rather have wild fish.”
There is also a good domestic market for the fish right now, he added. In both export and domestic cases, wild bluefin are expected to be a valuable commodity and the market for them will likely be strong.
NMFS policy
But the greatest impediment to a profitable winter season, according to Fitzpatrick, is the way in which the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has managed the fishery so far. And he was not alone in this belief.
Most of those participating, from fishermen to dealers, have been up in arms. They feel that the agency has severely hurt the fishery and the fishermen, but has not explained why.
As of Dec. 15, only 180.6 metric tons (mt) out of a total 708.3 quota had been caught in the general category. The total quota was reduced from the original 908.3 mt down to 708.3 a few weeks earlier when NMFS made the decision to transfer 200 mt from the general category to the reserve.
Yet, as of mid-December, NMFS had refused to guarantee how much quota the winter fishery would be allowed to catch. Without knowing this, many New England fishermen were fearful of making the investment to take their boats south.
Furthermore, with the exception of Dec. 16-18, NMFS was not allowing fishing Friday through Sunday during the already short, two-month winter fishery. It was maintaining the designated no-fishing days despite the enormous available quota and in the face of unanimous support for weekend fishing by all four major tuna associations.
On Nov. 4, East Coast Tuna Association, North Shore Community Tuna Association, General Category Tuna Association, and Winter Bluefin Tuna Association wrote to NMFS.
Representing commercial tuna fishermen from both the north and south, they strongly encouraged that up to 500 mt of the uncaught quota to be made available in the North Carolina fishery.
Furthermore, the associations called for the end of three days off per week.
Margo Schulze-Haugen of the NMFS Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Division acknowledged there was plenty of quota. But, due to past high catch rates in the winter fishery, the agency was proceeding cautiously.
“Mid December is the time when catch rates usually go up,” Schulze-Haugen said. “We want to make sure the fishery is on par before anything is done.”
“Reasonable opportunity”
However, Rich Ruais, executive director of the East Coast Tuna Association, pointed out that NMFS has a mandate under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to provide US tuna fishermen with a “reasonable opportunity” to catch their bluefin quota.
“The law is pretty clear here and, given that no one can accurately predict what the catch rate will be, NMFS should start the fishery off with minimum restrictions until we see what the catch rate will be,” Ruais said. “With the volume of quota available, there is no way NMFS will lose control and risk noncompliance with the international quota.”
Fitzpatrick agreed and explained that NMFS is “violating the law and will likely cause serious injury to my business again.”
Doing away with the days off was most important to him and was another reason fishermen from all over had decided that the trip to North Carolina wasn’t a safe bet.
Schulze-Haugen countered that the daily bag limit had been raised to two fish per day and that this should provide an opportunity for fish to be caught. But, for now, the three days off per week are going to remain.
“We are keeping an eye on the fishery though,” she added. “We are looking at the weather and are able to use dealer reports and other methods to have a real time assessment of what is happening. Within three days we can change the schedule and that is a very short amount of time. There is over a month left in the season.”
The law
As written in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the law states that: “[I]n preparing and implementing” any Fishery Management Plan (FMP) or amendment for Atlantic highly migratory species, the Secretary “shall … with respect to a highly migratory species for which the United States is authorized to harvest an allocation, quota, or at a fishing mortality level under a relevant internationally fishery agreement, provide fishing vessels of the United States with a reasonable opportunity to harvest such allocation, quota, or at such fishing mortality level.”
NMFS spokesperson Susan Buchanan and Schulze-Haugen both highlighted government concerns that bluefin are being overfished throughout the Atlantic.
“Catches and catch rates have been very low over the past few years and some biologists see a growing problem in this regard,” Buchanan said.
They emphasized that bluefin are under stress and that NMFS was acting to ensure that the industry can go fishing next year.
Bluefin quotas are set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
While catch rates have been down in places like New England, Canada has had no shortage of fish in the same time span. US purse seiners were able to catch 800 giants northeast of Georges Bank in two days this past summer before the fish moved into Canadian waters.
Information from ICCAT and elsewhere suggests the problem in New England is a localized problem. This has led a great many industry participants to question the legitimacy of the NMFS policy.
Use it or lose it
There is more at stake, though, than just this year’s income.
As Ruais explained, “The winter fishery is our last chance to catch our quota before we potentially lose it.”
When it comes to ICCAT and quota shares, you “must use it or lose it,” he said.
Ruais also pointed out that it is crucial to understand how a migratory species like bluefin is managed in the international arena.
“ICCAT is made up of over 40 nations, all vying for a part of the shared bluefin resource,” he said. “For three years now, the New England fishery has underachieved our quota and, if we don’t catch fish somewhere to make up for that decline, then it will be very difficult to protect our historical share at ICCAT.”
Ruais added that there has been a lot of pressure at ICCAT to reallocate US quota.
“Some in the Canadian fishery have been calling for more US quota. France is another nation demanding more quota for the fishery in St. Pierre et Miquelon,” he said. “And Mexico has been demanding more quota for years.”
Considering that next year is a stock assessment year at ICCAT, this issue is all the more urgent. Many people believe that more than just providing a reasonable chance at lost income, the winter fishery is vital to this country keeping any bluefin quota at all.
Come on down
Fishermen in New England seem to generally support allowing the winter fishery access to substantial general category quota as long as it does not reduce future fishing opportunities in the traditional summer/fall fishery.
Ruais said that there’s no need – at least for the time being – for anyone in New England to worry about losing their quota next summer or beyond because of the winter fishery.
“Eighty-nine percent of US quota is reserved for the summer and fall months, and a major amendment to the federal management plan would be required to change the domestic sub-quota shares,” he said.
Pereira said that New England fishermen should come down for the winter fishery, adding that there are plenty of boat slips and commercial fishing communities ready to support their efforts.
The Winter Bluefin Tuna Association is “very appreciative of the help from the north so far,” Pereira said, “but those fishermen need to come down and show NMFS that this winter bluefin fishery and its $9 million quota is important to a broad range of fishermen.”
Chris Weiner is finishing his last term at Bowdoin College where he has majored in Government and Legal Studies. He has harpooned bluefin in New England for 16 years.
Chris Weiner
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