Tag Archives: Cape Cod Fisheries Trust

Flaws in Catch-Share System Frustrate Scallopers

Every year, regulators set a maximum number of pounds of scallops the entire small-boat fleet is allowed to catch. Each vessel owns or leases a share of that total, which determines how many pounds of scallops it can land that year. That share is called quota. Owning or leasing one percent in quota, for example, allows a vessel to take one percent of the total regulators set. Scallopers say the major flaw in this so-called catch-share system, which is also used in a handful of other federal fisheries, is that it requires them to pay huge fees every year to lease quota. It’s an expensive extra cost, they argue, that makes it especially hard to get into the business. “It’s a failed system,” said Damian Parkington of Wellfleet, owner of the F/V Roen Keil, “and it’s done a number on small business in coastal communities.” >click to read< 21:45

Cape fishermen push for action on habitat protection

Part of managing fisheries is identifying and protecting that habitat. But the ocean is a big place and a difficult environment to do analysis. Politically, it’s also fractious terrain as fishermen worry about the balance between conservation and being shut out of traditional and productive fishing grounds. And so, it took 14 years for the New England Fishery Management to craft regulations protecting fish habitat, passing Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 in June of 2015. But after over two years of review by the council and the National Marine Fisheries Service, it still hasn’t been implemented,,, click here to read the story 11:19

Creating a Safe Harbor for a Village Heritage

wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-scaled500-e1371562470325MORRO BAY, Calif. — Anyone seeking to learn about the fishing heritage of this port city, named for the huge rock that dominates its harbor, need only amble over to the “Liar’s Bench,” a sitting area along the Embarcadero for fishermen prone to telling tall tales.,,their brethren in Cape Cod?  The Liar’s bench. huh! Read more here  07:09 CLF and CLF Ventures: or we get rich by litigating the hostile takeover and trading away of public resources for corporate exploitation while claiming to save the planet.

Investing in Sustainable Fishing: Giving a New Lease on Life for New England Fishing Communities

When Americans today think of the first Thanksgiving feast, we often lean on our childhood history lesson version of events; the brave settlers celebrating with their new neighbors the survival of those first harsh months in a new world. (I don’t see things the same as the author, but hey,  you be the judge.) Read more here 15:37

Meet the fisherman: Scott Nolan – fishing for sea clams

“It used to be a bigger fishery,” Scott says of sea clamming. “There used to be 100 to 150 boats fishing for them at one time and then after they went to this quota system in the early 90s, the boats started disappearing because of what they call consolidation, where these big companies ended up owning most of the quota and all of the small independent guys got out of the business. Now it’s down to around 50 boats fishing for sea clams in federal water.” Scott is able to fish for sea clams because he leases quota from the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust more@wickedlocal 12:52