Now the fishermen have good news as there will be no more days-at-sea limits. There will be individual saleable quotas at levels that some fishermen say are too low to sustain a fleet and will hand a public resource to wealthy private interests. said Emily Litsinger of the Environmental Defense Fund at a forum sponsored by Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, informed that catch shares offer an opportunity for small boat fishermen to stay around, instead of days-at-sea, which are continuing to be cut.
She added that there is a multi-species catch share fishery in British Columbia that is successful. The New England Fisheries Management Council will set a total allowable catch of a groundfish species, then individual quotas will be parceled out based on the catch history of permit holders.
Since the catch histories cover some lean years, the allotments for some fishermen are minimal at best. Even within the sectors, divvying up the fish has been contentious. Tom Dempsey of the CCCHFA noted that this isn’t an ideal situation and it’s going to be hard, unfortunately consolidation happened. Catch histories do favor bigger boats that caught more fish, and perhaps those who bent the rules.
Provincetown fisherman Jean Frottier said that all that catch from illegal nets is now part of the allocation. People who are sector boosters have the enthusiasm of Red Sox fans in April but they have no information. It’s important for the catch share program to have an ownership clause.
