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

[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

[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.

[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

[AndyS]

The great thing about all this is if you remember the commercial guys wiped out the Cod and pushed Haddock to near extinction. THEN cried to the goverment there were no fish to fish for so we need you to hand us money, then they went after the herring when all the groundfish were gone.

I'm sure the rod and reel guys will really take it on the chin with this one, we always do.

[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!

[tropics]

Originally Posted by AndyS

The great thing about all this is if you remember the commercial guys wiped out the Cod and pushed Haddock to near extinction. THEN cried to the goverment there were no fish to fish for so we need you to hand us money, then they went after the herring when all the groundfish were gone.

I'm sure the rod and reel guys will really take it on the chin with this one, we always do.

Maybe last years opening of the Cod on Stellwagon Banks could have, Had something to do with the shortage this year. They lowered the size to 19" from 24" after the draggers wiped out all the market size Cod. JMHO

[TUNA.COM]

The stocks were completely rebuilt to healthy levels up till Lubcenco created the catch shares and sector programs. I am not as familiar with all the logistics involved as some of the commercial fishermen I know here, but everyone of them said that this new program would destroy the fishery.

Too many bigs boats in too small of an area. Lubcenco can now pat herself on the back for a job well done.

Yes, the recreational sector will be a thing of the past too. What they are doing is a necessary evil.

You don't need science to understand you can't repeatedly pound any stock of fish and expect it not to have an impact. The issue is commercial fisheries....period. Recreational rod and reel will NEVER cause a stock to decline. Doesn't mean there shouldn't be logical limits for recreational as well because at times enough is enough. I know I'll get push back but 60 ling in a trip. That's insane. As good as ling are they don't freeze well at all and 60 fish or 120 fillets is nuts in my opinion. Having said that, recreational is not what killed the ling and whiting fishery, small mesh netters did.....period end of story. Unfortunately government talks conservation and then uses the rebuilt stocks to their advantage and make political decisions to line their own wallet. Whether it's opening up a fishery to international interests as was the case with the cod fishery back in the 70's or to select domestic special interest groups. Ends up the rebuilding of the entire species is on the shoulders and bank accounts of many and the benefit once the stocks are rebuilt accrues to the greedy politicians and special interests groups who grease their campaigns every year with contributions. I agree their needs to be restrictions but the only way to change any of this after the stocks are rebuilt are to vote the people in to office who will represent the recreational guys fairly and equally.

It's a very sad situation. The only good news is I would think the ground fish population should rebuild pretty quickly if left to do so but that's of no consolation to the guys whose livelihood depend on these fisheries today. Sad indeed!

Dakota