Fisherman facing new catch limits
Last November, New England fishermen cheered when a government agency accepted a plan that would allow them to spend more days at sea. But on May 1, when the Amendment 13 fishing regulations take effect, most fishermen who catch groundfish -- such as cod, flounder, and white hake -- will actually be working fewer days.
''We're just spinning our wheels," said Vito Giacalone, a Gloucester fisherman who worked with the fishing industry's lobbying group, the Northeast Seafood Coalition, to present an Amendment 13 plan to the New England Fishery Management Council.
Amendment 13 is part of the regional fishery management plan, overseen by the New England Fishery Management Council, and mandated by federal Judge Gladys Kessler in April 2002. At that time, Kessler ruled that the government had allowed overfishing, depleting important species such as cod. Kessler cut fishermen's days at sea by 20 percent, and ordered the New England Fishery Management Council to amend its fishery plan to allow the stocks to rebuild.
On March 18, Donald L. Evans, secretary of the Department of Commerce, approved a section of Amendment 13 that would reduce fishermen's days at sea by double digits. Fishermen who worked the maximum 88 days last year will now be allowed to work 52.8 days a year, starting May 1. Also on May 1, fishermen will be able to catch up to 800 pounds of cod a day, up from the maximum of 500 pounds a day last year.
Giacalone's plan called for fishermen's days at sea to be reclassified as A and B days, with 60 percent designated as A days, and 40 percent as B days. According to Giacalone, the A days would be used to target groundfish, and the B days would allow fishermen to harvest rebounding stocks, such as Gulf of Maine haddock, Georges Bank haddock, Georges Bank yellowtail, pollock, and winter flounder. Also under the plan, half of the B days could be used by fishermen to fish in federally designated areas.
But Evans has yet to approve the B days, and last week the New England Fishery Management Council decided it needed more time to research the B days plan.
''The details in many instances haven't been spelled out yet," said Tom Nies, an analyst for New England Fishery Management Council, when asked about the B days. Nies said the council's groundfish oversight committee is studying the B days, and will send a recommendation for a framework that would be added to Amendment 13. Nies believes once the council votes on the framework, it would take four months for the federal National Marine Fisheries Service to review the plan, and send it to Evans.
''There's good stories with Amendment 13 and there are very bad stories," said Jackie Odell, executive director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition. Odell said the plan that was accepted by the council last November was preferable to one of the council's plans, which would have cut fishermen's days at sea by 65 percent. ''The bad thing is that you're looking at a framework that is moving at a snail's pace; you're looking at the B days that need to be further clarified and defined."
Chris Sherman, who also works at the Northeast Seafood Coalition, knows what kind of economic impact federal regulations can have on the fishing industry. Since Kessler's ruling two years ago, her husband's income has dropped 65 percent, and they've barely managed to keep their boat and house. Sherman believes the B days are an integral part of the fishing industry's future. ''It's income they're not going to have. When you live paycheck to paycheck, it's very difficult," she said.
Gloucester's groundfishing industry is a fraction of the halcyon days of the 1950s and '60s when hundreds of vessels motored out to fish every day, and when locals claimed the boats were so close together they could almost walk across the harbor. As federal regulations have cut back their work days, and boat and permit buybacks have caused old-timers to retire or find a new craft, there are now fewer than 200 groundfishing boats in the harbor.
Still, fishermen like Giacalone see the Amendment 13 plan as a way to stay in business, and keep the shoreline's infrastructure intact as the stocks rebuild. Economic data indicates that the fishing industry is still a significant part of Gloucester's economy. According to Gloucester Mayor John Bell, 15 percent of Gloucester's economy -- representing 1,200 jobs -- is tied to the fishing and seafood industry. Last year the city moved ahead of Portland, Maine to claim second place in fishing revenue in New England, with $41.2 million in sales.
Just when the B days will be implemented is unclear, but Nies of the New England Fishery Management Council believes a framework will be established that will eventually allow fishermen to work more than an average of one day a week.
Giacalone, who studied the council's original plan, and edited it down to less than 10 pages, concurred. Said the fisherman, ''I look at the B days as the way to mitigate the economic harm that is going to happen by having a further reduction in opportunity days."
Steven Rosenberg can be reached at rosenberg@globe.
