Bad News for NE Fishery

[Mr. Hankey]

I caught this in the Boston Globe yesterday and thought I would share. I enjoy reading many of your reports of your fishing trips up north and remember the days catching Cod from a rubber raft just off the beach. I guess times have changed...



BOSTON (AP) — New England’s top fishing regulator said Friday that crippling cuts in catch limits this year are unavoidable and they will devastate what remains of the region’s once-flourishing fishing industry.

On Friday, John Bullard, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast office, said key fish populations are so weak, ‘‘draconian’’ cuts in catch are unavoidable.

‘‘They cuts will have devastating impacts on the fleet, and on families, and on ports,’’ he told The Associated Press in an interview.

‘‘That reality is here and we have to face it,’’ Bullard said.

Officials are set to meet next week to decide catch limits for fishermen who chase bottom-dwelling groundfish, such as cod and haddock. A key New England Fishery Management Council committee has already recommended massive cuts that fishermen have repeatedly warned will destroy the industry.

The centuries-old groundfish industry, which pulled in about $90 million in 2011, was a critical part of the nation’s early economy, and is so revered locally that a wooden cod replica hangs in the House chamber of the Massachusetts Statehouse.

Bullard’s statements Friday follow years of battles between the industry, environmentalists and regulators over increasingly tough fishing rules, and months of effort to find some way to avoid catastrophic reductions.

But a new assessment of New England cod stocks, released this month, combined with a low catch this year is more evidence of their poor condition, Bullard said. Tough cuts are mandatory if fish populations are ever going to rebound, he said.

‘‘Yes, stocks can get rebuilt, but they don’t get rebuilt on dreams, they get rebuilt on difficult decisions that get made,’’ he said. ‘‘So that’s what has to happen with New England groundfish.’’

Fishermen have long disputed the accuracy of fishery science that drives regulation, pointing to numerous examples of bad estimates. They also say they've been needlessly squeezed by arbitrary and unneeded rules pushed to promote conservation. Environmentalists counter that regulators have too often caved to the industry, allowing overfishing that hurts stocks.

Bullard said failures by fishery managers are ultimately to blame for weak stocks that haven’t rebounded.

‘‘We set the rules and clearly the rules have failed,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s no other conclusion.’’

The fishery council’s science committee is recommending catch reductions of 81 percent for cod in the Gulf of Maine, to 1,249 metric tons, and 61 percent for cod in Georges Banks, to 2,506 metric tons. As recently as 2003, fishermen caught about 8,000 metric tons of Gulf of Maine cod and about 12,000 metric tons of cod in Georges Bank.

New Hampshire fishermen Dave Goethel, a council member, said the recommend catch limits aren’t ‘‘even remotely enough fish to make any of these boats viable businesses.’’

‘‘We’re not talking about, ‘Oh yeah, we’re going to have a tough year next year,'’’ Goethel said this earlier week. ‘‘We’re talking about, you know, that’s it.'’’

Bullard said he thinks the groundfish industry will ultimately continue in some form, as fishermen seek alternatives to stay in business for now. Some fishermen have already turned to other commercial seafood, such as monkfish or lobster, and Bullard predicts people will hang on until the groundfish get healthy.

The upheaval will be painful, but it’s no different from what other industries face, he said.

‘‘A plant shuts down. A person who’s worked there for 30 years all of the sudden goes to the factory door and it’s closed,’’ Bullard said. ‘‘You learn a new trade and you adapt. ... People adapt and they survive.’’

Goethel said the bulk of his assets and decades of his life are tied up in fishing. At age 59, whatever’s ahead for the industry, he has to ride it out.

‘‘Fishermen are eternal optimists. Every day I go to sea I'm going to have the best day I ever had in my life,’’ he said. ‘‘So, yeah, I'm always optimistic that somehow, some way I haven’t figured out how yet, we'll find a way out of this mess.’’

© Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[bulletbob]

Pretty simple.. Too many boats catching too many fish for too long...
Doesn't matter where the boats are from, here or "over there"... Those stocks really need time to regenerate..
The reason recreational types don't destroy fish stocks is because we can release small fish, OR big fish, we are limited by regulation as to how big and how many, and sea and seasonal conditions limit us as to when and where we can fish.. Big netters kill millions upon millions of juveniles of all species, and once dragged for miles in a net the fish die, period..
I don't know the answer for these fishermen that lived their lives catching fish, but simply letting them continue as is, is probably not the best way.. Cod Pollack, Haddock and various Hake type fishes, will come back strong, they are prolific breeders.. They just need a break.. Matter of fact, the way our own Ling fishing has been lately, don't be surprised if you see recreational limits on them too.. Just something I think will happen soon.. Can't say for sure... bob

[tautog]

[QUOTE=bulletbob Matter of fact, the way our own Ling fishing has been lately, don't be surprised if you see recreational limits on them too.. Just something I think will happen soon.. Can't say for sure... bob[/QUOTE]

As someone who fishes for ling year round, it has been better this past year than it has for all but one year in the late 1990s. Admittedly my records only cover 17 years, but there is no problem with the ling fishery. 60 plus per day last Jan and Feb, 20-30 almost every day this summer.

[Reelron]

Originally Posted by tautog

As someone who fishes for ling year round, it has been better this past year than it has for all but one year in the late 1990s. Admittedly my records only cover 17 years, but there is no problem with the ling fishery. 60 plus per day last Jan and Feb, 20-30 almost every day this summer.

Agreed!

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by tautog

As someone who fishes for ling year round, it has been better this past year than it has for all but one year in the late 1990s. Admittedly my records only cover 17 years, but there is no problem with the ling fishery. 60 plus per day last Jan and Feb, 20-30 almost every day this summer.

Perhaps.. In deep water, on wrecks, and in the Mudhole etc.. However, I was around when these fish were everywhere.. Go right out of Shark River Inlet, maybe 3-400 yards, and there they were there all day, even mid day in sping and late fall.. they were between the channels off Sandy Hook and the bottom was covered with them near Ambrose Tower, all winter long.. Right during mid day right up until the Blues showed up... Night time was just stupid fishing, but it wasn't even necessary to go at night.

Right off the beach at the Cedars while Flounder fishing in April and May... Ling would hit worms, mussels and clams right beside the flounders.

This time of year, all the boats from AH to Point fished ling inshore day and night and everyone on board caught buckets in a few hours.. That went on for decades.
Those close inshore fisheries simply don't exist any more, leading me to believe that the numbers simply aren't where they should be, or at least USED to be...
Yes you can still catch Ling if you want, but the sad fact is, I NEVER went out to the Mudhole or deep wrecks to do so.. We caught them in under 60 FOW, year after year, for decades... No GULP was needed for a good catch.. They hit ANYTHING and double headers were the norm.. Yes we still have Ling, but those of us that remember the 70's, 80's and 90's remember they were FAR more abundant than they are today.. The pressure from decades of dragging and killing juveniles by the millions , plus the increase in rec pressure on wrecks and in the Mud Hole , 17 Fathoms etc has had an effect on stocks.. Otherwise, the boats would be catching them most of the year at close range as they did for many many years.. Just my opinion... bob

[blkbear]

On the north east ground fishing its catch shares and sector programs that are hurting the Cod and Haddock. Big Corps buy catch share off the little guys and go in an net in one day everything in a sector( big, small , everything) and clean out the area. Then the Brains come in and scream its overfished .

These catch shares and sector programs can clean an area out and wipe fishing for years in that area. where line fishing would not put a dent in the fish in that area

Look at the GOM last year, they cried no haddock then turn around and make it unlimited and now they want to cut it 80% only idiot would call this science
and managment.

To rebuild these stocks of Haddock and Cod they only need to stop the big companies from dragging the major banks and areas.
rec fisherman with a 8-10 fish limlt is adrop in the bucket and bring much need money to these areas. The big Company just dreges up everything and processes it right on the boat creatating very few land base jobs

Washington needs to hire someone who know the area and can see that area and sector fishing is causing major drops in ground fish

[tautog]

Not sure if it is a population issue or a habitat issue on the ling. For some reason the winter flounder do not come in the backwaters in great numbers but I see more flounder than ever in the deep. I can catch 20-40 flounder per day without any chumming in June and July if I set my mind to it. But for some reason most of these flounder don't winter over in the back or they leave quickly without feeding in April.

We do see a few weeks of good ling fishing inshore in the late spring, but not as much as we used to, but fish have been just as plentiful in the deep, if not more so. I think ling is on an upswing from the the low point of the early and mid 2000s. I would like to see a bit more 4lb plus fish like we had in the 1990s, but that could take a while with an expanding population.

[Fishguts]

[QUOTE=blkbear]On the north east ground fishing its catch shares and sector programs that are hurting the Cod and Haddock. Big Corps buy catch share off the little guys and go in an net in one day everything in a sector( big, small , everything) and clean out the area. Then the Brains come in and scream its overfished .

These catch shares and sector programs can clean an area out and wipe fishing for years in that area. where line fishing would not put a dent in the fish in that area


To rebuild these stocks of Haddock and Cod they only need to stop the big companies from dragging the major banks and areas.
rec fisherman with a 8-10 fish limlt is adrop in the bucket and bring much need money to these areas. The big Company just dreges up everything and processes it right on the boat creatating very few land base jobs

Washington needs to hire someone who know the area and can see that area and sector fishing is causing major drops in ground fish[/QUOTE

Just wondering are there really "big company process ships"working the GOM ground fish stocks?? Are these the same type factory ships that target sablefish and p cod in the Bering sea??

[shrimpman steve]

A plant shuts down. A person who’s worked there for 30 years all of the sudden goes to the factory door and it’s closed,’’ Bullard said. ‘‘You learn a new trade and you adapt. ... People adapt and they survive.’’

Scum bag! JMHO

[action]

Originally Posted by shrimpman steve

A plant shuts down. A person who’s worked there for 30 years all of the sudden goes to the factory door and it’s closed,’’ Bullard said. ‘‘You learn a new trade and you adapt. ... People adapt and they survive.’’

Scum bag! JMHO

Aman shimpman what a dirtbag.bullard don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out