EDFish

SeafoodNews.com Highlights Cooperation Among Industry Groups Preparing for the Switch to Catch Shares in Pacific Trawl Fishery

By / Bio / Published: October 26, 2010
Tom Lalley, EDF Oceans Marketing & Communications Director

Tom Lalley, EDF Oceans Marketing & Communications Director

An article on SeafoodNews.com highlights cooperation among industry groups to prepare for a switch to catch shares in the West Coast trawl fishery next year.  Fishermen, federal government officials, environmentalists, fishery management experts and on-board observer companies – among others – are collaborating to make the transition a success.

Fishing organizations and EDF recently facilitated a workshop in Santa Rosa, CA to share information and tips on a number of topics, like financing and trading quota, fishery mapping and “hotspot management,” cooperative risk pools, increasing revenues, and reducing bycatch. Videos from that event are now available at www.westcoasttrawlers.net. The West Coast Trawlers’ Network is an informal association comprised of the Fisherman’s Marketing Association, Midwater Trawler’s Cooperative, Oregon Trawl Commission, Pacific Whiting Conservation Cooperative and United Catcher Boats.

Full article from SeafoodNews.com posted with permission from John Sackton.

West Coast commercial fishing groups make concerted effort to get ahead of catch share transition

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton – Oct 25, 2010 – IFQ’s are coming to the West Coast groundfishery in 2011, and a coalition of industry associations have been working together to prepare for the upcoming changes.

The West Coast trawlers network consists of the Coos Bay Trawlers Association, the Fishermen’s Marketing Association, the Midwater Trawling Cooperative, the Oregon Trawl Commission, the Pacific Whiting Conservation Cooperative, and United Catcher Boats.

Several of these organizations members have had extensive experience with IFQ programs in Alaska, including how these programs allowed vessels to better manage fleet bycatch, and minimize shutdowns.

Recently the group sponsored a major workshop that was attended by representatives of about half the trawl fleet.

According to Scott Coughlin, a coordinator of the workshop, the group has now posted a series of videos and powerpoints from the workshop on their web site http://www.westcoasttrawlers.net/.

The presentations range from gear and bycatch experts to a representative from Dock street brokers, and cover a range of operational questions involving IFQ programs.

‘The videos present an unusual opportunity to hear from a broad range of experts addressing catch share management of the trawl fishery – a timely topic that affects nearly every West Coast fishing community,’ said Coughlin.

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Catch Share Design Manual and Online Design Center Provide Guidance for Fishery Managers and Fishermen

By / Bio / Published: October 19, 2010
Kate Bonzon, EDF Director of Design Services

Kate Bonzon, EDF Director of Design Services

Kate Bonzon leads Catch Share Design Services at EDF and authored the Catch Share Design Manual along with her team, Karly McIlwain, Kent C. Strauss, and Tonya Van Leuvan.

Overfishing is the biggest driver of declining fisheries globally, and conventional fishery management approaches have failed to correct this. Conventional management has led to unsafe derby-style fishing, increasingly shrinking fishing seasons, and low market prices all while fish populations in the ocean continue to decline.

We need a different approach.

Catch share management is a solution to overfishing that keeps fishermen on the water and fishing as fish resources recover. Under catch share management, managers establish a scientifically-set, fishery-wide catch limit; assign portions of the catch, or shares, to individuals or groups of fishermen; and hold them directly accountable to stay within the catch limit.

Increasingly, fishery managers and fishermen are looking to catch shares as a locally-designed solution to failed fisheries management (about 275 programs already exist worldwide in fisheries large and small). Identifying the biological, economic and social goals of a fishery and incorporating design elements to meet these goals is critical to the program’s success for fishermen, fishing communities and the resource. As fishery managers and fishermen go through the design process, they have a flexible array of options from which to choose.

But, understanding what options exist and what process works for catch share design has been a key challenge in program development. 

Now there’s a dynamic new tool and guide to help improve understanding of catch share programs around the world: the Catch Share Design Center.  The Design Center includes several new tools and resources:

  • The Catch Share Design Manual, which is the first-ever comprehensive overview and roadmap through the catch share design process, drawing on hundreds of fisheries in over 30 countries and expertise from over 60 fishery experts from around the world.  The Design Manual is not prescriptive, but rather, poses a series of questions and highlights frequently used approaches from around the world.  It describes a 7-Step process to guide and inform the design of catch shares for commercial fisheries, including four in-depth case studies of fisheries that have implemented catch shares. The case studies provide comprehensive, real-life examples of the design Steps and decisions in action.
  • The global database of catch share fisheries allows users to explore and understand the design elements and characteristics for 275 catch share programs worldwide. The database is dynamic, being updated regularly, including with information from viewers or other experts.
  • The directory of resources serves as a forum for catch share experts and businesses to connect with fishery managers and fishermen engaged in catch share design and implementation.
  • Go Fish, No Fish is a game-oriented teaching tool that illustrates the differences in conventional fishery management and catch shares.

The Catch Share Design Center seeks to provide cutting-edge information and tools to fishery managers, fishermen and others in order to advance the development and implementation of catch share programs.  We welcome your participation in this endeavor.

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NMFS, NOAA & NE Fishery Management Council Work Together to Address Initial Hurdles of Groundfish Sectors

By / Published: October 1, 2010
Julie Wormser, New England & Mid-Atlantic Regional Director for EDF Oceans program.

Julie Wormser, New England & Mid-Atlantic Regional Director for EDF Oceans program.

Sector management has been in place in the New England fishery now for several months, and while there are still some issues to be worked out, preliminary data show some positive results. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), fishing industry and the New England Fishery Management Council are all working together to address some of the initial hurdles and to help sectors operate more smoothly.

For starters, on Thursday the Council unanimously agreed to establish accumulation limits for the groundfish fishery. Once the cap is in place, this will benefit small boats and fishing communities because there will no longer be excess accumulation by a small group of individuals. This will make it easier for small boats to continue to fish profitably.

As reported at the Council meeting, the first three months of sector operations resulted in (May 1 – August 15): 

  • Fishermen earning more money for less fishing under the new system. In 2010, landings are down compared to 2009. Only 85.8 percent of total landings last year were landed this year (for the same period of time). Meanwhile, revenues are up 112.4 percent.
  • Sector fishermen are avoiding weak stocks and targeting robust stocks. The ratio of Georges Bank cod to Georges Bank haddock (in metric tons) in 2009 was 1121:1532. In 2010, it was 743:2768.
  • Landings of Gulf of Maine winter flounder, a stock at very low abundance, are being effectively avoided under sectors. In 2009, 66 metric tons were landed. In 2010, 32 metric tons were landed.

Other developments include:

  • Sectors are more effective than the old days-at-sea policy and more people are getting out of the common pool and into sectors as a result. NMFS announced this week that 822 permits have enrolled in sectors for 2011, an 8 percent increase from this year, representing 98 percent of annual catch limits.
  • Responding to industry requests, NMFS/NOAA committed at the Sept. 9 groundfish committee meeting to immediately improve the weekly information flow between the agency and sector managers.
  • Earlier this week, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eric Schwaab announced plans to conduct a regional audit of the fishery management process in New England, to help improve relationships between key stakeholders and to help sectors operate more smoothly.
  • Also this week, Commerce Secretary Locke announced that $3 million in federal grants would be made available for cooperative research that will help fishermen develop new equipment to prevent bycatch in the New England region.
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Fishermen Face Uncertainty as Valuable Fishing Seasons Cut Short

By / Published: October 1, 2010

Catch shares could extend seasons, bring back fish  

These vermilion snapper were landed in Murrels Inlet, SC in late August 2010.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is closing two valuable commercial fishing seasons in the Southeast on Oct. 6 and 7: vermilion snapper and black sea bass, respectively. 

With so many restrictions already placed on commercial fishing in recent years, fishermen are forced to compete with other fishermen to catch vermillion snapper and black sea bass as fast as possible before the catch limits are met and seasons closed. For several years, the limits have been met faster and seasons closed earlier. Once the seasons close, there will be few other valuable fish to catch for the rest of the year. 

These closures are not an accident. They’ve been happening consistently throughout the region for several years, due to outdated fishing rules and lower limits of fish to catch.

  • Since 2008, the vermilion snapper commercial fishing season has decreased in length by nearly 50%, allowing just 6 months of fishing this year.
  • Since 2006, the black sea bass commercial fishing season has decreased in length by more than 60%, allowing just under five months of fishing this year.
  • Since 2005, the golden tilefish commercial fishing season has decreased in length by more than 70%, allowing just over 3 months of fishing this year.
  • In 2009, there were no red snapper season restrictions, but this year fishing for red snapper has been banned the entire year.

This trend indicates that continued fishing under outdated rules could result in even more restrictions, causing further economic damage to the fishing industry and the communities it supports. Some fishermen have already gone out of business; those who are still in business often must go out in dangerous weather to fish before seasons close. Local fish can be hard to come by in the region.

There’s a better way to revitalize fish populations and get fishermen back on the water: catch shares.

Catch shares are the best solution for Southeast fisheries. Catch shares have proven results in fisheries around the world, they improve science through enhanced fishery monitoring and they eliminate the need for fishery closures.

Now is the time to move forward with better management: catch shares.

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NOAA Official Addresses West Coast Fishermen

By / Published: September 30, 2010

The regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, Will Stelle spoke to west coast groundfish trawl fishermen at a workshop co-sponsored by EDF. Stelle spoke about the transition on January 1st to a new catch share program that aims to stem the decline of this fishery.   He acknowledged that fishermen will have to change their business models to succeed but noted that there is significant support for them including federal appropriations and a new fund to support innovation in catch share fisheries. 

The workshop brought pacific groundfish trawl fishermen together with catch share fishermen and other experts to share their knowledge and help ease the transition to catch shares.  Proceedings of the workshop will soon be available at a new web site – www.westcoasttrawlers.net.

Will Stelle speaks at IFQ Workshop Dinner 09/26/2010 from Environmental Defense Fund on Vimeo.

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Tim Fitzgerald, EDF Oceans’ Senior Policy Specialist Testifies at Today’s Oil Spill Commission Hearing

By / Published: September 28, 2010
Tim Fitzgerald, EDF Senior Oceans Policy Specialist

Tim Fitzgerald, EDF Senior Oceans Policy Specialist

Today, Tim Fitzgerald, EDF’s Senior Policy Specialist for Oceans, testified at the third meeting of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Speaking particularly on concerns of seafood safety, Tim mentioned EDF’s work with the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance to help them preserve their markets in the face of this disaster. Read Tim’s full remarks:

September 28, 2010
National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, 3rd Meeting – Testimony of Tim Fitzgerald, Senior Policy Specialist, Oceans Program, Environmental Defense Fund

Good afternoon. First, I’d like to thank the Commission for the opportunity to testify today on this critically important topic. I’m a Senior Policy Specialist in the Oceans Program of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), with a scientific background in marine ecology and physiology. For the last seven years I’ve worked specifically on issues of seafood sustainability and health for EDF, and I was asked to testify today about the public perception of Gulf seafood safety and the work that we’ve begun with fishermen to address ongoing consumer concerns. For background, EDF is a leading national nonprofit organization representing more than 700,000 members that links science, economics and law to create innovative, equitable and cost-effective solutions to society’s most urgent environmental problems.

As you may already know, the seafood market is inherently confusing for consumers. Most people have very little connection to, or understanding of, the fish they buy. More than 80% of fish that Americans eat is imported, coming from nearly every country on Earth and caught or farmed under dozens of different regulatory schemes and environmental conditions. Given this complexity, there are numerous opinions – often conflicting – over what seafood is “good” or “bad”. Regardless, opinion polls, focus groups, and other studies have consistently shown that quality and safety are two top concerns for consumers. Read More »

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