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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 10
June 2010
Debate intensifies over groundfish permit buybacks; pollock, GOM winter flounder catches threatening
MYSTIC, CT – As fishermen were struggling to adapt to an entirely new way of fishing under Amendment 16’s sector and common pool strategy, the New England Fishery Management Council took several steps to potentially alleviate at least some pressure on the fleet in the days ahead.
For one, the council, which met here April 27-29, publicly stated that it “recognized the need” for a permit buyback program and voted to convey that message to the secretary of commerce.
It also agreed to deal with yellowtail flounder and pollock stock status updates and revisit the Gulf of Maine winter flounder situation. And, the council voted to make it possible for new groundfish sector applications to be considered for 2011.
The permit buyback idea has been a topic of discussion among industry for many months now and even longer in some circles.
Council staffer Anne Hawkins presented an overview of past buyout programs. Here in the Northeast, the 1996 vessel buyback pilot program removed 11 vessels from the groundfish fishery for $2 million. Then an expanded version of the program in 1998 took out 68 vessels for $23 million.
Following that initiative, a 2001 “permit” – not “vessel” – buyback took out 245 permits for $9.6 million, which, Hawkins said, generally “were from smaller vessels.”
The permit buyback revoked multispecies permits “to obtain maximum sustained reduction in fishing capacity at the least cost in the minimum period of time,” Hawkins said. For this program, applicants did not have to demonstrate a reliance on groundfish revenues.
Industry funded?
No federal money has been allocated for another buyback, but the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) does contain provisions to set up an “industry-funded” buyout.
However, even if the industry at large was willing to finance such a thing, which would require a referendum vote with two-thirds approval, it appears that the bureaucratic process could take up to four years to achieve full implementation, according to Hawkins’ research.
New Hampshire council member David Goethel said, “Four years is too long. If we’re going to do something, we have to do something that’s way faster than that – a year-and-a-half tops.”
Maine council member Jim Odlin said he fully recognized the council as a whole could not “lobby” Congress for money. But, he said, “I think we need to find a way to send a message that this body feels there needs to be a buyout.”
The council voted to send a carefully worded letter to relay to the secretary of commerce that it “recognized the need” for a timely permit buyback in the groundfish fishery.
Pollock
By any fisherman’s account, the pollock situation for 2010 is dire. Pollock is considered to be one of the “choke” species that will prevent fishermen from being able to harvest their full allocations of other groundfish stocks in sectors and in the common pool.
Maine council member Mary Beth Tooley emphasized that some sector vessels had only received enough poundage for a single tow in their personal sector contributions.
However, a new pollock stock assessment now being conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) Northeast Fisheries Science Center could significantly change that situation.
While nothing has been set in stone, many people expect that this new June 2010 assessment will produce a higher biomass estimate.
Those higher biomass estimates could lead to a higher allowable biological catch (ABC) and, subsequently, a higher annual catch limit (ACL) for pollock. Final, peer-reviewed results from the assessment should be available by late July.
The council talked about options for increasing the ABC and ACL midway through the 2010 fishing year if the assessment supports such increases.
But NMFS Northeast Regional Administrator Pat Kurkul told the council that NMFS itself could deal with 2010. She encouraged the council to focus its efforts on revisiting pollock ACLs for future years.
Tooley asked Kurkul if that meant the agency would take emergency action.
Kurkul said, “If the results of the assessment indicated that it’s appropriate to take action, then yes, emergency action is one of the options we could consider.”
GOM winter flounder
The council also debated what to do about another “choke” species – Gulf of Maine winter flounder, which is under such a low quota that it has the potential to prematurely curtail all fishing operations in the Gulf of Maine, both in sectors and the common pool.
After talking with numerous industry members about the problem, Maine council member Terry Stockwell moved to ask NMFS to initiate emergency action to implement a zero possession limit for the stock and to ensure that sectors received zero allocation of Gulf of Maine winter flounder.
It turns out that a zero allocation with a zero possession limit actually is better than a sector receiving, for example, 100 pounds of winter flounder. That’s because once the 100 pounds is caught, sector members would be prohibited from doing any kind of groundfish fishing within the Gulf of Maine winter flounder stock area.
Under a zero/zero scenario, winter flounder bycatch instead would be discarded. The strategy is currently being used for Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder.
While recognizing that the Gulf of Maine winter flounder situation “definitely is going to shut down the sectors,” Goethel was philosophically opposed to zero possession because people will catch the fish anyway and have to discard them.
“I don’t see it as a solution to the problem,” he said. “All it does is put dead fish on the bottom.”
Goethel said the trouble was that the council based the Gulf of Maine winter flounder ACL on a stock assessment it never should have used to begin with.
After some discussion, the issue became so complicated that the council voted to table the motion, study the situation, and bring the subject back up during its June meeting in Portland, ME.
Sectors, yellowtail
Already, the council has received two applications to create new groundfish sectors for the 2011 fishing year. The council agreed it should consider these requests in the next available framework action, which is likely to be finalized in November. The purpose of the framework is to put forward a new rebuilding schedule for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder.
The council voted to task the groundfish plan development team (PDT) with analyzing three potential alternatives to the current Georges Bank yellowtail rebuilding timeline.
Right now, the Georges Bank yellowtail ACL is based on the stock being fully rebuilt by 2014 with a 75% probability. The PDT is being asked to look at alternatives that would extend the rebuilding period to 2016 under 50%, 60%, and 75% probabilities.
If the council decides to extend the rebuilding period, its goal would be to have the associated ACL, which likely would be higher, implemented for 2011. Its final decision will be based on results from the next US/Canada Transboundary Resource Assessment Committee meeting, which will take place this summer.
The council further voted to send a letter to NMFS encouraging the agency to continue prioritizing groundfish monitoring initiatives in its annual budget proposals.
Recs, GC scallopers
At the request of Barry Gibson, New England regional director for the Recreational Fishing Alliance, the council discussed “reaffirming” the groundfish party/charter boat control date of March 30, 2006.
However, to ensure “full transparency” behind the action, especially since more people have obtained party/charter permits in recent years, including some displaced commercial groundfish fishermen, the council agreed to delay the discussion until its June meeting in order to better advertise the agenda item.
The council further voted to consider allowing general category scallopers to have access to the Great South Channel scallop dredge exemption area during yellowtail flounder closure periods.
This would require a change to the groundfish regulations. The council could consider alternatives for the proposal in the same framework adjustment that’s now being developed to potentially change the rebuilding schedule for Georges Bank yellowtail.
Janice M. Plante
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