Stuffed Flounder © 2010 Eliza Adam
A group of fishermen in Rhode Island who helped establish the groundfish and fluke catch share fishery management programs are now able to go back to the days when fishermen sold their fish directly to restaurants versus solely through wholesalers. Selling directly increases the prices fishermen can get for their catch and also means customers are eating the freshest fish.
Chef John Vestal from New Rivers in Providence, Rhode Island who is a customer of the new fishermen’s distribution company Wild Rhody told The New York Times, “I have been buying all the seafood for the restaurant for over a decade, and what I saw amazed me. The fish was the absolutely most beautiful, fresh, cleanest seafood I had ever seen.”
In a recent article in The Providence Journal, fisherman Chris Brown described why it was difficult to sell directly under the old fishing derby system before the switch to catch shares: “’Used to be, years ago, they would say, ‘the season is open, go,’ Brown said. ‘There was a race to fish. We wouldn’t have been able to do something like this. Now we can fish to the prompts of the market.’” Read More
Dr. Doug Rader, Chief Oceans Scientist - EDF Oceans
This weekend Science and Technology reporter for The Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer, Tyler Dukes, wrote about Dr. Doug Rader’s work to protect North Carolina’s costal waters. In addition to being EDF’s Chief Oceans Scientist, Dr. Rader also sits on the North Carolina Governor’s Scientific Advisory Panel on Offshore Energy, which will release its final report next month on the state’s coastal energy resources.
In the article, Dukes shares how Dr. Rader has spent his career helping to shape coastal policy that addresses the needs of both marine life and fishermen, as well as others who rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. As Dr. Rader puts it — policy that works for both “people and critters.”
Earlier this year, EDF joined with two West Coast fishing industry organizations (United Catcher Boats and Midwater Trawlers Cooperative) in an amicus brief requesting dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA). PCFFA had filed suit to halt the West Coast groundfish trawl program.
Late last week, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer ruled in the case, dismissed PCFFA’s claims in their entirety and granted summary judgment to the federal defendants (the Secretary of Commerce, NMFS and NOAA). This is an excellent outcome for a program with real potential to transform a failed fishery into a profitable and sustainable one for years to come.
Please see the news release on the ruling below and download the court’s decision on the West Coast Trawlers’ Network website. Read More
Emilie Litsinger, EDF Oceans NE Groundfish Project Manager
This week senators from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island sent a letter to Eric Schwaab, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, proposing several refinements to enhance the New England groundfish sector management program. EDF agrees that we need to be adaptive and sectors – as with all fisheries management tools — need to be refined as experience is gathered and evaluated. With more than a year of operation under sectors now complete, results of the program’s performance show signs of progress that the fishery has started to turn the corner to a more ecologically and economically stable fishery.
EDF agrees with the senators and is very focused on improving the at-sea monitoring program so that is more reliable, comprehensive, and cost effective. At-sea monitoring costs need to be reduced and the use and electronic monitoring systems need to be approved. EDF commissioned Northern Economics Inc to conduct an independent 3rd party review of the current sector monitoring program to compare the program with similar programs on the Pacific Coast and in Alaska to make recommendations for improving the design and reducing the costs of the program. Read More
Fishing is the deadliest occupation in the United States. In recent media coverage, individuals from the fishing industry described how catch shares can make fishing safer. By giving fishermen the flexibility to choose when to fish, catch shares end the dangerous race for the fish.
The article below from SeafoodNews.com recaps testimony during a hearing in Seattle that NOAA convened to get public comments as the agency updates a national standard on fishing safety. One attendee noted that “prior to the Halibut IFQ program, there averaged 30 Search And Rescue (SAR) missions per halibut opener. After the implementation of the IFQ program, the fishery averages 5 SARs per year.”
In addition, the Alaska Journal of Commerce ran a compelling letter from the President of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, Jim Stone. Mr. Stone points to data from National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that illustrates the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands crab fishery has become less deadly with one fatality since the switch to catch shares. Read More
