Patrick urges precise tally of fish stocks

“We cannot make sound decisions based on old data,’’ Patrick told several hundred fishermen gathered for a Northeast Fisheries Summit at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. “And we cannot make them based on emotions.’’

Federal regulators frequently come under fire by fishermen for the techniques used to provide estimates of the populations of fish and other sea life routinely harvested for markets. Many fishermen in the region believe that the available stock of a variety of groundfish, such as pollock and cod, as well as other types of seafood, is being undercounted by a management system that relies on sample fishing, rather than sonar or acoustic technology.

Patrick called on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to approve a $3.2 million application for research to bring new technology to the area’s oldest industry. He had convened a meeting last May, in which he asked the state’s Department of Marine Fisheries, the School of Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and members of the fishing industry to work on ways to conduct more accurate groundfish surveys.

At yesterday’s meeting, many fishermen also made dire predictions about the effects of an upcoming federal “catch-share’’ policy. The new system, due to go into effect May 1, would replace a complex scheme that regulates fishermen’s catch through strict limits on how many fish they can bring to port and how many days they are allowed to venture out to sea.

Under the new rules, groups of fishermen would be able to form cooperatives that would be allotted a total amount of fish to catch each year. Fishermen in each cooperative, or “sector,’’ would work out among themselves how to divvy up this quota.

The idea is to give fishermen more flexibility, allowing them to avoid dangerous weather and end the practice of throwing dead fish overboard if they catch more than permitted. There are two sectors operating in Cape Cod. The new rules would create 17 more in New England.

The effort is the nation’s most ambitious attempt to rein in overfishing by giving groups of fishermen more of a stake in the health of fish stocks.

But many fishermen are skeptical. Carlos Rafael, a fisherman for more than 30 years, sat on the panel yesterday, and said, “as I made a dollar, I invested in this industry, and I thought I was going to be rewarded in the end, but I’m just getting kicked around.’’ He scanned the audience and said, “Fifty percent of you will be out of business by August. The sectors will not work. That’s a guarantee. In August you will see 50 percent of the New Bedford fleet out of work.’’

Rafael holds about 44 permits for groundfish, making him one of the largest permit holders in the state. According to the New England Fisheries Management Council, the number of groundfish boats has dramatically dipped in the past decade, from 1,100 in 2001 to 600 in 2008.

Patrick said fishermen share the same attitudes as environmentalists when it comes to overfishing. “For the fisherman, it’s simple - no fish, no jobs,’’ he said.

Brian Ballou can be reached at bballou@globe.com.