Tag Archives: “sectors:”
Five years after ‘catch shares’ and ‘sectors,’ groundfish industry is on the rocks
Five years have now gone by since the reshaping of the Northeast fishery, five years that the the Northeast groundfishing industry does the best it can under a new set of rules. Five years ago, few knew the definition of the word “sector” as Fisheries was suddenly using it. Basically they are what most people would call co-operatives. “Catch shares” were a bit easier; it’s another word for quotas. And it’s the catch shares, not so much the sectors, that many believe are at the root of the problem. Read the rest here 09:00
Captain Paul Cohan, Gloucester: NOAA’s latest data doesn’t pass smell test
I smell a rat,,,, NOAA and its National Marine Fisheries Service stinks to high heaven,,,, If there was ever any doubt about the catastrophic effects of “catch shares” it should now be dismissed. Sectors, ITQ’s, Closures, and Consolidation, have not created conservation — instead devastation of all, well most, involved, both fish and fishermen, as well as those who depend upon them. As much at fault, perhaps more so are the environmental non-government organization — or ENGO’s. For it was their infiltration of NOAA at the highest levels that facilitated this debacle. GDT letter <Read more here> 07:28
It’s time to listen to the fishermen who are asking for more ecological protections for the fish, not less.
A quick overview of why this is necessary: In 2010, the council established groundfish “sectors:” groups of fishermen governed by an overall catch cap or limit, that allows annual trading of fishing quota. When they created this new management system, the council also eliminated inshore fishing protections that were part of the old system. The new regulations and lack of inshore protections resulted in a perfect storm of heavy fishing pressure concentrated in a very small area, followed by a stock collapse and numerous nearshore fishermen who, with nowhere left to fish, were put out of work. Read more here 14:26
