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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 1
September 2007
Portsmouth co-op closes under fishing restriction pressure
PORTSMOUTH, NH – On Aug. 8, the members of the Portsmouth Fishermen’s Co-op voted to close the co-op doors as of Aug. 31.
In recent years, the co-op was leased to an outside company that handled the fish and provided management. According to some co-op members, the decision to disband was due to a number of reasons, including decisions made by the company, as well as regulations that came online under Framework 42 to the federal groundfish plan.
“I and other members feel that one of the more compelling factors was the current management regime,” said Erik Anderson, co-op president. “Any organization of this type needs to create revenue through fees for the services it provides to vessels in order to cover the facility’s operational overhead.”
And, the revenue of the co-op was directly tied to the volume of fish that came over the dock, Anderson said.
Operating costs of the facility have steadily increased over the years and, with declining revenues, the end result was no surprise, he said.
“Amendment 13 and especially Framework 42 had disastrous consequences for New Hampshire that were predicted by the framework analysis and by us,” Anderson said.
The co-op was organized in the late 1970s. The state of New Hampshire constructed the Portsmouth Fish Pier in 1980 and the co-op leased its operational facility on the pier from the state.
Over the years, the co-op provided services for members from the ports of Portsmouth, Rye Harbor, and York, ME and sold fuel, bait, and chandlery items to nonmembers as well. While it had healthy membership at one time, the co-op had just 19 members in August.
“It is my hope that there can be some immediate discussion with the state about how to provide the services the co-op provided to the vessels that still need them and that some future reorganization of the facility will not abandon that need,” Anderson concluded.
Rosanne Mizzoni
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