{"id":2994,"date":"2011-09-22T10:56:36","date_gmt":"2011-09-22T14:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/edfish\/?p=2994"},"modified":"2012-04-25T13:03:58","modified_gmt":"2012-04-25T17:03:58","slug":"one-year-of-sector-management-in-new-england-fisheries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/edfish\/2011\/09\/22\/one-year-of-sector-management-in-new-england-fisheries\/","title":{"rendered":"One Year of Sector Management in New England Fisheries"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Emilie<\/a>
Emilie Litsinger, EDF Oceans NE Groundfish Project Manager<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A report<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

With the first full year of operation under sectors now complete, results of the program\u2019s performance are encouraging. Sector fishermen stayed within their allowed catch levels, groundfish revenues were essentially\u00a0stable, overall revenues were up, fishermen received higher prices for fish, and\u00a0 the amount of wasted fish dumped overboard was substantially reduced.<\/p>\n

The report highlights a number of continuing trends. For example, the number of active groundfish vessels has been declining for over a decade.\u00a0 The eight percent decline in the 2010 fishing year was similar to the decline from 2007 to 2009.<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong><\/p>\n

In May 2010, the New England groundfish fishery underwent a substantial management overhaul. At that time, fishermen were asked to choose between one of two fundamentally different systems: sector management, in which fishermen voluntarily formed fishing cooperatives, or \u201csectors,\u201d and pledged to keep their catch within strict limits as required under the renewed federal fisheries law (the Magnuson-Stevens Act); or the \u201ccommon pool,\u201d a continuation of the days-at-sea and daily trip limits structure. All fishermen were placed under new, federally mandated Annual Catch Limits (ACLs), which had been previously slated to take effect in 2010.<\/p>\n

More than half of the fishery\u2019s permit holders \u2013 representing 98 percent of the fish harvested \u2013 chose to join sectors. In 2011, an additional 10 percent of permit holders joined the sector program, bringing the total number in the program to 836 permit holders, representing 98.8 percent of the fish harvested.<\/p>\n

Results for the First Year<\/strong><\/p>\n

So how has the new system fared?<\/p>\n