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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 5
January 2009
NE council to look at monkfish ITQs in ’09
DANVERS, MA – At the request of industry, the New England Fishery Management Council has agreed to look at two specific issues that were not originally on its 2009 radar screen.
The first is individual transferable quotas (ITQs) for the monkfish fishery, which was raised by Associated Fisheries of Maine.
The second is midwater trawl access to groundfish closed areas, which was raised by the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association, and Earthjustice on behalf of the Herring Alliance. This request was prompted by reports of excessive haddock bycatch in Closed Area I during the October herring fishery.
During its Nov. 18-20 meeting here, the council started off the debate by reviewing a list of 2009 workload priorities drafted by its executive committee.
The list spelled out the need to develop various annual specifications, such as total allowable catch (TAC) limits and other restrictions subject to change each year, and to continue work on groundfish, scallops, habitat, skates, and other species.
Monkfish and herring were on the list, but the proposed actions for both species did not cover the issues raised by industry, which, if pursued, would expand the scope of the council’s work.
The midwater trawl issue was extensively debated the previous day, so the matter was settled fairly quickly with the council voting to have its herring committee review existing criteria for midwater trawl access to groundfish closed areas.
Monkfish ITQs
The monkfish ITQ request came up next.
Executive Director Paul Howard expressed concern about drafting a program that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) might not be able to implement in the near future.
He also pointed out that the proposal would be further complicated by the need to put it to a vote. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act now requires all ITQ programs in New England to be approved by “more than two-thirds of those voting in a referendum among eligible permit holders.”
“Other persons” deemed eligible, such as qualifying crewmembers, also will be able to vote. On Dec. 15, NMFS published final “guidelines and procedures,” including voting eligibility requirements, for conducting referenda.
Rhode Island council member Dave Preble said he was “very much aware” of the referendum requirement and of the council’s limited resources, but he nonetheless favored pursuing an ITQ alternative.
“This is an industry-generated idea and I’d like to see what the industry comes up with,” said Preble. “There’s an awful lot of interest in Southern New England about monkfish.”
Connecticut council member Sally McGee said the council would be working on a monkfish amendment anyway in 2009 and, “given the expressed interest of industry” for ITQs, the referendum shouldn’t be an insurmountable hurdle.
“I think it’s an alternative that should be explored in Amendment 4,” she said.
“Give me my quota”
A few council members noted that previous “industry-generated” ideas had failed miserably once presented to larger audiences. But others countered that times had changed and many fishermen were now ready for ITQs.
“You go down to the docks and you hear fishermen say, ‘Nothing is working. Just give me my quota,’” said Massachusetts council member Rodney Avila.
Noting that the council will be holding monkfish Amendment 4 scoping meetings with the public in 2009, Avila added, “We’ll find out very soon how the people feel.”
Maggie Raymond of Associated Fisheries of Maine said she thought the council would be “very surprised” at the amount of interest the proposal would generate during scoping. She emphasized that fishermen would be better able to control monkfish catches with ITQs than under a fleet-wide, hard TAC.
“If you have TAC shutdowns, that would be disastrous,” she said. “Monkfish is one of the most valuable fish we bring across the dock every day of the week.”
Sectors too?
Maine council member Terry Stockwell moved to add sectors to the mix of ideas to consider for monkfish Amendment 4.
“My interest in including sectors is because of the great overlap between monkfish and groundfish. We have 19 groundfish sectors,” he said.
Raymond did not oppose the idea but questioned whether it was necessary.
“There are still a lot of problems with sectors. An ITQ is a much simpler way to accomplish the same goals,” she said.
Massachusetts council member David Pierce said, “I always envisioned sectors as an intermediate approach to ITQs. Why don’t we say right now what it is – sectors or ITQs?”
Paul Howard said the executive committee had discussed this very issue and concluded that sectors and ITQs were “two separate tools.”
In the end, despite questions about added workload, the council voted to include consideration of both monkfish ITQs and sectors in Amendment 4.
Janice M. Plante
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