Improving New England Groundfishermen's Fishing Opportunities
Through the Transfer of Raised Footrope Gillnets to Fishermen
In 2010, groundfish management in the Northeast transitioned to a Catch Share system and Sector Management.
This system allows fishermen to self-organize into groups (Sectors) that are assigned an Annual Catch Limit by
species that is based on catch-histories of individual fishermen in each Sector and the most recent Stock
Assessment for that species. Fishermen can lease annual quotas for species across or within Sectors, but when a
single fisherman exceeds their Annual Catch Limit in a given year, the entire Sector loses it’s right to fish in the
groundish fishery for the remainder of the fishing year. As such, the Sector Management framework represents
implementation of Magnuson Stevens Act Amendments that direct fisheries management toward market-based
approaches that include catch-limits in order to end overfishing.
Since the implementation of Sector Management in 2010, Gulf of Maine Atlantic Cod Stock Assessments in 2012 and 2014 (an unplanned, updated assessment) have led to a progressive decrease in the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Gulf of Maine cod first by 72% and then 88%. This has had a profound impact on the fishing prospects of commercial groundfishermen in the region. As an example, a typical groundfisherman from the Maine Coast Community Sector’s quota for cod has declined from 50,000 lbs in 2010 to 1,200 lbs headed into the 2015 fishing year. Despite this declines, several other fish available to GoM groundfishermen as an alternative to Atlantic cod are healthy such as GoM Haddock, White Hake and Pollock. However, accessing these stocks while avoiding cod remains a challenge since species in the Northeast Multispecies Groundfish Complex generally intermingle. Therefore, a species such as cod under these circumstances becomes a ‘choke’ stock that forces fishermen to abandon fishing before fully accessing quotas of alternative species. The pressure imposed by choke stocks is a main factor responsible for incomplete catching of available quota for many available stocks, particularly for GoM haddock, white hake, and pollock, of which only 49%, 33% and 23% of total available quota was caught in 2014 (http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/aps/monitoring/nemultispecies.html).
For many groundfish fishermen in the Gulf of Maine, the survival of their fishing businesses depends on finding ways to maximize their income from their allotted quota. Fishermen have been interested in exploring ways to target more abundant species and avoid cod. Lifting footropes of gillnets off the seabed is a gear modification that can avoid bottom-dwelling species.
Since the implementation of Sector Management in 2010, Gulf of Maine Atlantic Cod Stock Assessments in 2012 and 2014 (an unplanned, updated assessment) have led to a progressive decrease in the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Gulf of Maine cod first by 72% and then 88%. This has had a profound impact on the fishing prospects of commercial groundfishermen in the region. As an example, a typical groundfisherman from the Maine Coast Community Sector’s quota for cod has declined from 50,000 lbs in 2010 to 1,200 lbs headed into the 2015 fishing year. Despite this declines, several other fish available to GoM groundfishermen as an alternative to Atlantic cod are healthy such as GoM Haddock, White Hake and Pollock. However, accessing these stocks while avoiding cod remains a challenge since species in the Northeast Multispecies Groundfish Complex generally intermingle. Therefore, a species such as cod under these circumstances becomes a ‘choke’ stock that forces fishermen to abandon fishing before fully accessing quotas of alternative species. The pressure imposed by choke stocks is a main factor responsible for incomplete catching of available quota for many available stocks, particularly for GoM haddock, white hake, and pollock, of which only 49%, 33% and 23% of total available quota was caught in 2014 (http://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/aps/monitoring/nemultispecies.html).
For many groundfish fishermen in the Gulf of Maine, the survival of their fishing businesses depends on finding ways to maximize their income from their allotted quota. Fishermen have been interested in exploring ways to target more abundant species and avoid cod. Lifting footropes of gillnets off the seabed is a gear modification that can avoid bottom-dwelling species.
We propose to build upon previous gear tests by taking next steps toward industry adoption of
raised gillnets to the Northeast groundfish industry. To do so, we will employ methods that leverage the power of
social diffusion as was done successfully in our shrimp grate program. This work will consist of four distinct
phases, 1) construct and distribute raised gillnets to fishermen throughout the Gulf of Maine, 2) test their
effectiveness in a broader range of conditions, 3) provide outreach and extension to industry about gear selectivity
as well as guidelines for construction, use and maintenance and 4) track project success.
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| Rendering of Experimental raised nets |
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