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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 9
May 2009
Lubchenco announces $16 million in groundfish aid
MYSTIC, CT – To help fishermen deal with the 2009 groundfish interim rule and ease the transition from the current days-at-sea system to sectors in 2010, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is making $16 million available for cooperative research and to develop monitoring technologies so sectors can operate successfully in the future.
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco announced the financial assistance on April 8 during the New England Fishery Management Council’s meeting here.
“Recognizing that the economic impacts of the interim rule will be significant for many fishermen, I directed my staff to analyze our budget to see what we could contribute to get to sector management and to mitigate the costs of this transition period,” said Lubchenco.
“We worked hard to find ways to provide quick and meaningful help to the industry through increased cooperative research and by assisting the industry to set up the infrastructure for the new management system based on sectors and catch shares,” she said.
According to Lubchenco, the money, which will come from NOAA’s current 2009 fiscal year budget, will be allocated as follows:
l $6 million for cooperative research to “provide opportunities for fishermen to work with scientists to improve surveys of fish stocks and to develop and test fishing gear that targets healthy stocks;” and
l $10 million “to develop a data reporting and fishery monitoring infrastructure for the new catch share management system for long-term sustainability and profitability.”
Lubchenco added that part of the $10 million will be used for “immediate opportunities, including hiring observers, to help us transition to a new catch share structure.”
New data reporting systems will allow NMFS to monitor effort, document catches, and track permit transfers, “all measures that will allow near real-time and transparent management of the fishery,” according to NOAA.
Furthermore, Lubchenco said NOAA will enlist the assistance of the Economic Development Administration (EDA), an agency within the Commerce Department that administers grant and assistance programs to communities and workers impacted by the economic downturn. EDA provides planning, technical assistance, and implementation of grants to distressed communities.
“NOAA will work with EDA to disseminate information about these programs to the affected communities,” she said.
Positive reaction
Massachusetts council member David Pierce welcomed Lubchenco’s announcement.
“I know full well the value of sectors and catch shares,” he told her. “I am very encouraged to hear you say that significant amounts of financial resources will be devoted to monitoring sector performance.”
Maine council member Jim Odlin strongly supported the use of funds for cooperative research and encouraged NOAA to use some of the money to put industry vessels to work alongside the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s new research vessel Henry B. Bigelow.
“I hope we can develop side-by-side surveys with the Bigelow beginning this fall to gain more trust from industry of the numbers that come out of the survey,” he said.
Maggie Raymond of Associated Fisheries of Maine urged Lubchenco to scrutinize the overhead costs of any foundation or state agency through which NOAA decides to funnel the $16 million.
Noting that some foundations charge as much as 45% overhead, Raymond said, “The industry would see that as unacceptable.”
Janice M. Plante
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