Help Implement a Fair Fisheries Management System in Massachusetts and Maine

This action is for Massachusetts and Maine residents only

As you may know, the New England Fishery Management Council will take a critical vote to amend its management plan for cod and other groundfish - Amendment 16 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan - at its June 22-25 meeting in Portland, Maine.

Both Massachusetts and Maine are powerful forces at the Council and have votes in this process. Now is a crucial time for both states to take the lead in changing fishery management to protect family jobs and put an important part of their state and regional economies on a sustainable path.

We are asking you to make your voices heard with your Governor so that he directs his representatives on the Council to support fundamental changes in how the groundfish fishery is managed by treating all fishermen in the groundfish fleet equally.

Please let your Governor know that fair is fair.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: DEIS Amendment 16

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Please take action. Treat all fishermen fairly. End overfishing with annual catch limits and monitoring that hold ALL fishermen accountable.

Thanks to decades of overfishing and federal mismanagement, New England's storied groundfish industry is in serious trouble, with cod and flounder populations plummeting.

But at the end of June, the New England Fishery Management Council will vote on a new system that could start to turn things around. It would give New England nineteen community-based, fishermen-run cooperatives, called sectors, which would harvest groundfish based on a total annual catch limit. A robust monitoring system would ensure that when the limit is reached, fishing will stop - giving fish populations a chance to rebuild.

Unfortunately, many fishing vessels have ignored the request for sector participation and will remain in the so-called "common pool," where guidelines for the new annual limits and monitoring have yet to be set.

Fishermen who have joined sectors (over half of the fleet) are seeking fairness by requesting that common pool vessels live by the same rules they do. If not, groundfish populations will continue to decline.

I therefore urge you to support fairness for all fishermen by instructing your representatives on the Council to vote for hard catch limits and robust monitoring for the common pool. The federal government has already allocated $10 million to help transition the entire New England fleet to the new monitoring system. It's time to act.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
June 11, 2009

Background Information

Background

New England's original economy was built on cod, yet today, marine fisheries in New England are among the most depleted and poorly managed fisheries in the nation. Because of their historical importance, however, New England's fishing industry has had a disproportionate political significance, heavily influencing national fisheries policies set by Congress.

Overfishing continues on 13 depleted groundfish stocks, including signature species such as Atlantic cod and many of the flounders - restaurant favorites .

Bycatch, fish caught unintentionally while targeting another species, is poorly monitored, largely unlimited, and results in enormous quantities of dead fish being dumped overboard.

These problems worsen every year because the National Marine Fisheries Service has refused to set catch and bycatch limits, instead relying on input controls — limiting time at sea and how much fish can be kept per trip. This has led to dramatic declines in fish stocks and revenue and fishermen leaving the industry.

The Near Future

There is hope on the horizon: for fishing year 2010, the New England Fishery Management Council is planning to implement a new management system called sector allocation, which operates on three simple premises:

It implements science-based catch limits to rebuild fish populations and prevent overfishing.
It incorporates monitoring so fishermen and regulators know exactly how much fish is being caught, and as a result, fishing stops once catch limits have been reached.
It establishes community-based, fishermen-run co-ops, called sectors. Each sector receives its own share of the annual catch. While respecting catch limits, the co-ops provide fishermen with the flexibility to set their own fishing guidelines so they can run their businesses more efficiently and profitably.