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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 9
May 2009
Groundfish: New rules and money in play
MYSTIC, CT – The 2009 groundfish fishing year will begin on May 1 under a new set of “interim” regulations implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
The measures, vastly different from those aired in mid-January, were significantly modified after NMFS received a flood of comments expressing grave concern about the proposed rule’s serious economic impacts.
The comments came from 63 individuals, 11 commercial fishing organizations, eight US senators, nine US congressmen, two state senators, two state fisheries agencies, two conservation organizations, two municipalities – New Bedford and East Hampton, NY – and the New England Fishery Management Council.
The changes were supported by Jane Lubchenco, the Obama administration’s newly confirmed head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – the parent agency of NMFS – who made it clear from her first days on the job that addressing New England’s rancorous groundfish situation was a top priority.
After personally meeting with numerous fishermen, association leaders, environmentalists, scientists, and state regulators, and after consulting extensively with her own NMFS staff, Lubchenco held an April 6 teleconference call with reporters and announced the agency’s decision to implement what were significantly scaled-back measures.
“We listened hard to input from multiple stakeholders,” she said.
The interim rule is still painful and contains sharp reductions in fishing mortality. But, by most accounts, it was a welcome improvement over the initial proposal, which essentially would have shut down all of Southern New England to groundfish fishing except by hook gear and significantly expanded the 2-for-1 days-at-sea counting area in the Gulf of Maine to cover northern Georges Bank.
A compromise
Lubchenco called the final interim rule “a compromise,” saying, “It signals that we paid close attention to potential economic consequences while still retaining real conservation benefits. It will help us transition to sectors and, hopefully, a more prosperous industry. I think we are on the right path.”
Lubchenco said the industry’s current predicament resulted from “a collective failure to make the tough decisions to end overfishing.”
Nonetheless, she said, “We must not allow our vital fishing communities to fail.”
The NOAA administrator also noted that, once groundfish stocks rebuild, fishermen should be able to catch three times what is being harvested now “on a long-term sustainable basis.”
“NOAA’s ultimate goal is to protect and restore ocean ecosystems, fully recover fish stocks, and have an economically prosperous industry and vibrant coastal communities,” she said.
Pressed by one reporter about whether NOAA worried that environmentalists would sue the agency for “not going far enough” in the interim rule, Lubchenco said, “I have specifically asked the fishing industry and environmental groups to refrain from lawsuits as we make this transition to a new management system.”
Asked how people responded to this direct appeal, Lubchenco said, “I did not ask for commitments. I simply made the request.”
The NOAA administrator emphasized that her agency was squarely focused on “the future” and not the past, and she said NOAA intended to maintain an “open dialogue” with Congress, industry, conservationists, and all stakeholders.
US Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), who had expressed concerns throughout Lubchenco’s confirmation process about the initial proposed interim rule and the dysfunctional atmosphere in New England, publicly thanked the new NOAA administrator following the teleconference call.
Snowe praised Lubchenco for taking “decisive action to heal the rifts between the industry and regulators.”
A trip to Mystic
By April 8, Lubchenco herself was in Mystic, CT speaking before the New England council.
Referring to news reports implying that she had “intervened” in the groundfish situation and overridden NMFS’s authority in the Northeast region, Lubchenco told the council in strong terms that this was not the case.
The NOAA administrator said NMFS personnel in Gloucester and in Washington had recommended and supported changing the January proposal to respond to both public comments and the results of additional scientific analyses.
“The changes should not be seen as critical to or undermining (NMFS’s) regional leadership or efforts,” said Lubchenco. “I will vigorously defend my team in the region. They are working on your behalf under very tough circumstances, and I value and support their efforts and their counsel.”
Directive to council
Lubchenco then announced that NOAA was providing $16 million in financial assistance to mitigate economic impacts of the interim rule and help people transition to the new era of sectors and catch shares that will be brought about by Amendment 16 to the federal groundfish plan. Amendment 16 will go out to public hearing in late May and early June (see insert for details about Amendment 16 alternatives and hearings).
The interim rule and financial support were NOAA’s contributions to the troubling situation in New England, but Lubchenco said unequivocally that NOAA now was looking squarely at the council to take command.
“It is the council’s turn to take a strong leadership role and develop Amendment 16 in a way that ends overfishing,” she said. “I expect you to approve Amendment 16 at your June meeting.”
Furthermore, Lubchenco said she intended to hold the council “accountable in the public view” and would be “tracking” the council’s progress.
“There is too much at stake for us to allow delays or self-interest to impact our ability to reach sector management,” she said.
Council Chairman John Pappalardo of Massachusetts responded by saying, “I take to heart your message about Amendment 16 and the future.”
The council is scheduled to sign off on Amendment 16 during its June 23-25 in Portland, ME at the Holiday Inn by the Bay.
Will sectors work?
Lubchenco repeatedly referred to the interim rule as “a critical bridge” to a management transition to sectors and catch shares.
“Catch shares,” soundly advocated by NOAA, is an umbrella term often used to describe the allocation of a specific amount of allowable catch to fishermen through individual fishing quotas, for example, or to groups of fishermen through sectors or fishing cooperatives or even communities.
Sectors are just one example of a catch share program, and Amendment 16 proposes to create 17 new groundfish sectors in the region.
Maggie Raymond of Associated Fisheries of Maine, which represents over 75 permit holders who intend to work under sectors in 2010, thanked Lubchenco for the time she invested in the interim rule and noted the NOAA administrator’s enthusiasm for catch share programs.
“We understand that this is the direction we’re moving in, and I hope you’re right,” said Raymond. “I hope sectors will be the answer to achieving sustainable fisheries in New England.”
However, Raymond cautioned, “There’s not a lot of evidence that these tools will be the answer to our problems here. The existing sectors do not serve as a model for what is proposed in Amendment 16. And they do not catch all the fish they are allocated, which is how we would define success.”
Lubchenco was quick to respond.
“I don’t see catch shares as a panacea,” she said. “I think the challenge is to design them in a way that is specific to the place they are used. But if you look at the global information on catch shares, they are vastly superior in terms of achieving sustainable fisheries and sustainable harvests over the long haul.”
Lubchenco urged the council to “figure out the right incentives” so fishermen will want to voluntarily join sectors.
“I understand that moving in new directions is always fraught with challenges,” she concluded. “But the current system is not working, so let’s be open to the need to move to sectors, and we’ll modify them as we learn more.”
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