EDFish

Selected tag(s): Fisheries Management

One Year of Sector Management in New England Fisheries

By Emilie Litsinger / Bio / Published: September 22, 2011

Emilie Litsinger, EDF Oceans NE Groundfish Project Manager

A report by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released Wednesday highlights results of the first year of the groundfish sector management program in New England. The dramatic management shift appears to be helping the fishery turn the corner to a more economically and environmentally sustainable fishery.

With the first full year of operation under sectors now complete, results of the program’s performance are encouraging. Sector fishermen stayed within their allowed catch levels, groundfish revenues were essentially stable, overall revenues were up, fishermen received higher prices for fish, and the amount of wasted fish dumped overboard was substantially reduced.

The report highlights a number of continuing trends. For example, the number of active groundfish vessels has been declining for over a decade. The eight percent decline in the 2010 fishing year was similar to the decline from 2007 to 2009. Read More »

Posted in New England / Also tagged New England, Sectors | Comments are closed

Catch Shares Improve Safety for a Dangerous Job

By Monica Goldberg / Published: August 25, 2011

Fishermen hauling in a trawl.

Today, fishing once again topped the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ list of most dangerous jobs in the U.S. In 2010, commercial fishing had a fatality rate per 100,000 full-time-equivalent employees 33 times the average rate for U.S. workers. Although fortunately fishing’s fatality rate did decrease from 2009, it remains true that fishermen faced the highest chance of dying on the job compared with other occupations in the U.S.

Many things make fishing dangerous, but the way we regulate the industry can make things worse. For example, regulators often manage fishing by limiting when fishermen can be on the water, such as by setting short seasons, allocating a limited number of days at sea or shutting down a fishery when too many fish have been caught.

In order to catch enough fish to stay in business, fishermen must race to catch them before others do, which can lead to fishing in dangerous weather conditions, keeping exhausted crews on the water and overloading boats with excessive gear. All of these methods maximize catch in the short term but risk lives.

In contrast, catch shares give fishermen a secure amount of seafood they don’t have to race their peers to catch. Catch shares provide flexibility to choose when to fish based on the weather and market conditions. Read More »

Posted in Pacific / Also tagged Catch Shares, Fishing, Safety | Comments are closed

New England Catch Share Fishermen Serving Up Fresh, Traceable Fish Directly to Restaurants

By Emilie Litsinger / Bio / Published: August 11, 2011

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 »

Posted in New England, Seafood / Also tagged Catch Shares, Fish, New England, Seafood | Comments are closed

Judge Dismisses Attempt to Halt West Coast Fishery

By Shems Jud / Bio / Published: August 9, 2011

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 »

Posted in Pacific / Also tagged Catch Shares, Pacific, Trawlers | Comments are closed

Fishermen Speak Out about Safety Benefits of Catch Shares

By EDF Oceans / Published: July 22, 2011

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 »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged Catch Shares, Fishing, Safet | Comments are closed

Belize Inaugurates New Managed Access Program to Prevent and End Overfishing

By Larry Epstein / Bio / Published: July 7, 2011

On July 1, the Government of Belize inaugurated a managed access program for its marine reserves in order to prevent and end overfishing of important commercial species that are key to Belize’s marine environment and coastal economy. This Managed Access system is a major win for the conservation of Belize’s magnificent barrier reef as well as for the livelihoods of fishermen and Belize’s food security.

Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Hon. Rene Montero, inaugurated Belize’s managed access program to an audience of 60 fishermen, conservation NGOs, and government agencies.

Managed Access is a major shift in the paradigm from open access fisheries to a limited access area-based system. EDF has worked with a network of Belizean partners for over three years to achieve this milestone. Belize’s Fisheries Administrator, Beverly Wade, summed up perfectly the significance of this new program, “[The Managed Access program] is not only to allow traditional fishers to have greater participation in the management of the resources, but to also allow them to derive greater benefits from those resources.” Read More »

Posted in Belize / Also tagged Belize | Comments are closed