My View
As fishermen prepare their boats for sea, there's so much to do each day: plan the fishing trip, monitor weather forecasts, keep up on various regulations, check markets, track finances and tend to the needs of the crew.
With all this and more on their minds, fishermen might not have time to keep up with what's going on in fisheries management in their own region, let alone the nation and world.
Yet, as I talk to fishermen in New England and other parts of the country, I hear many who are looking for new management ideas or sharing what's worked for them with others.
For example, Dave Goethel, a New Hampshire fisherman and New England Fisheries Management Council member, told me about traveling to Europe recently to speak to fishermen and managers about how our regional fishery management councils work.
Eric Hesse, a fisherman from Cape Cod, told me about an innovative video monitoring program used in fisheries off the coast of British Columbia. And former fisherman and regional council member David Preble of Rhode Island just wrote a thoughtful piece for New Bedford's Standard-Times about the opportunity New England has to solve its "tragedy of the commons" in groundfishing with new management based on catch shares.
I've also received letters from fishermen and their supporters in response to my columns with ideas on how to conserve stocks using different gear and ways to make fishing more profitable. This sharing of good ideas is how we will make progress toward sustaining fish stocks that support healthy fishing communities.
In the three decades I've worked for NOAA's Fisheries Service, I've found that the lasting solutions for fisheries management are often inspired by fishermen and those closest to the resource.
On the Pacific coast, trawler fishermen in the whiting industry banded together in the mid-1990s to form the Pacific Whiting Conservation Cooperative to improve the sustainable management of the fishery, reduce the unintended catch — or bycatch — of salmon and let the public know about their efforts. The cooperative hired its own map company that takes observer information from its whiting fishermen and turns it into detailed charts. The charts are shared among cooperative members to help fishing vessel captains steer clear of areas where salmon are most likely to be caught as bycatch. This is one of many innovations the whiting cooperative has pioneered.
In the Southeast, fishermen worked with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and NOAA to design a catch-share management program for red snapper. This program is now inspiring other fishermen to develop a similar program for grouper.
In the Northeast, a small group of successful fishermen formed the Montauk Tilefish Association in the 1990s, so that its members would have a stronger voice as the fishery management plan was being developed. A portion of the overall quota was allocated to this group. Working with this allocation, the Montauk Tilefish Association decided the "race to fish" made little economic sense for them, and looked for ways to collaborate to improve working conditions and make their businesses more profitable.
The result is an informal system of coordinated landings that provides a reliable stream of high quality fresh tilefish to the market instead of too much fish at some times and not enough at other times. This also keeps the price stable. The tilefish fishermen are now working with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to develop a more formal catch-share program that would include other tilefish fishermen.
This week, I have been attending a meeting in Boston of fishery management councils from around the country, where I am getting a new sense of how fishermen are working with councils and NOAA to reach common ground — sustainable fisheries and healthy coastal communities.
Although I know we have big challenges throughout the country, I am optimistic that we can share ideas and work together for lasting solutions.
I welcome your comments. Please send them to me at public.concerns.groundfish@noaa.gov.
Dr. Jim Balsiger is acting assistant administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries service, based in Silver Spring, Md.
