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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 10
June 2006
Coast Guard standardizes net measuring practice
MYSTIC, CT – It might have been carried out in the past, but it’s not anymore. The Coast Guard’s official net measuring protocol specifically states that boarding officers “shall not shake the net to more firmly set the gauge in the mesh.”
The protocol further states, “The 5 kilogram (kg) weight alone must provide the pressure to make the measurement by regulation” (see box next page for step-by-step net measuring details).
This definitive procedure has been in place for a year-and-a-half, but the Coast Guard has begun strictly adhering to it only recently. And now top ranking officials are trying to get the word out.
“We want people to know what our procedures are so people know what to expect, so there’s no mystery whatsoever in what we do,” said Coast Guard First District Rear Adm. David Pekoske during an appearance before the New England Fishery Management Council on April 4.
Strict enforcement of the standardized protocol caused a bit of a stir last fall and winter in several major fishing ports, including Gloucester and New Bedford, when a seemingly higher than usual number of fishermen began coming up short on minimum mesh size measurements.
Other factors were blamed as well, such as net “shrinkage” and the 5 kg weight (see related story page 14A), but many fishermen charged that enforcement officials were handling nets differently. They worried that latitude and benefit of the doubt had gone out the window.
“Everyone was used to shaking,” said Rodney Avila, chairman of the council’s enforcement committee. “Now there’s no shaking.”
Avila said he didn’t believe fishermen were aware of the net measuring protocol, even though many officials had been using it for a while.
“Part of the problem is the industry wasn’t informed of the change,” he said.
The Coast Guard’s net measuring protocol was first adopted on Oct. 27, 2004. On Dec. 14, 2004, enforcement officials from New England states, the Coast Guard, and the National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement gathered in Durham, NH for a training session covering several different enforcement issues. The day-long event was hosted by New Hampshire Fish and Game.
The afternoon portion of the workshop, which was organized by the Maine Bureau of Marine Patrol with help from the Maine Sea Grant Extension Program, focused on “gear familiarization and net measurement.”
The Maine Marine Patrol spearheaded the effort because it wanted a standardized procedure for measuring nets.
Throughout New England, some officers were shaking nets, others weren’t. Many used their hands to push the spade into the mesh but at varying levels of force.
“There’s a big difference between the weight pulling on the spade or someone pushing it in by force,” said Col. Joe Fessenden, head of the Maine Marine Patrol.
Maine fishermen complained that federal officials were declaring their nets to be legal while state enforcement officers were finding them short – or visa versa.
“It created a lot of confusion,” said Maj. John Fetterman of the marine patrol.
An “understanding”
The training session drew several dozen enforcement officials and a small handful of fishermen, some of who provided nets for testing purposes.
“I thought it was a good workshop,” said Maine Sea Grant Extension Associate Dana Morse, who brought in gear and fish behavior specialists, including Mike Pol of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and Dave Beutel of Rhode Island Sea Grant, to cover topics such as trawl dynamics and fish behavior in trawls.
Following formal presentations, everyone gathered around nets for hands-on measuring.
“This was a place where the enforcement folks could try the different mesh gauges that were out there and have a conversation about how these things differ,” said Morse.
By day’s end, those in attendance reportedly concluded that net shaking and the use of force to insert the spade would no longer be practiced by anyone.
“From that training, we all went away with an understanding,” said Col. Fessenden.
Maj. Fetterman added, “We all agreed to the technique that would be used – that it would be by ‘weight of the measure.’”
And so, Maine and several other states began enforcing the standardized procedure outlined in the Coast Guard document. The spade rested where it rested simply by the pull of the 5 kg weight.
“We in Maine let our fishermen know what to expect. There was a protocol,” said Fessenden.
Doing it “same way”
According to Maj. Kathleen Dolan, coastal bureau chief for the Massachusetts Environmental Police, Massachusetts walked away with the same understanding and has been enforcing the “no shaking, no force” policy.
“That was part of the reason we all went (to the training session) – to make sure we were all measuring the nets the same way,” she said.
Some Massachusetts officers do use spring-loaded gauges, which the Coast Guard doesn’t use for purposes of documenting violations, but as far as how the net is handled, all Massachusetts officers follow the same protocol as agreed to in Durham, Dolan confirmed.
Coast Guard on board
According to fishermen, however, many federal enforcement officials didn’t immediately adhere to the protocol, which is why some believed it was a “new” policy and the issue came to a head again last fall and winter.
“They continued to give us slack,” said one fisherman.
But in April, Capt. Jim McPherson of the Coast Guard First District said the Coast Guard is now indeed following the protocol during net inspections.
“We want to be consistent across the board,” he said. “This puts us more in line with the states.”
As for the “no shaking, no force” part, McPherson said, “It’s a fairer process. It’s less subjective.”
Rear Adm. Pekoske emphasized that the Coast Guard is committed to ensuring uniformity on the federal level with the states.
“We’re going to work very hard to make sure there is consistency,” he said. “I think you’ve seen adjustments in what we do based on the honest feedback we receive.”
Maine’s Col. Fessenden is pleased that everyone’s now operating under a uniform policy.
“It’s not very fair to not have everyone do it together,” he said. “I think it’s important for us to all be on the same song sheet when checking the nets. We want to see them (other state and federal agencies) enforcing the rule the same way we are up here.”
Janice M. Plante
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