May 1 looms over the local fishing industry like a dark cloud threatening a violent storm. On that date, new federal commercial fishing regulations take effect in the region, limiting the number of groundfish boats are permitted to catch. As restrictive federal regulations loom, local fishermen fight for their traditional livelihood with innovative strategies.

May 1 looms over the local fishing industry like a dark cloud threatening a violent storm. On that date, new federal commercial fishing regulations take effect in the region, limiting the number of groundfish boats are permitted to catch.

“From 2009 to 2010, the difference in allocation for harvesting ability will be reduced in the vicinity of 70 to 75 percent,” said Padi Anderson, whose family has two commercial fishing boats in Rye Harbor. “It will compromise our industry—and by compromising our industry, I mean very possibly collapse New Hampshire’s fishing industry.”

In fact, she said, many local fishermen have already decided the industry is no longer viable. “We have already had fishermen drop out here in New Hampshire,” Anderson said. “We may have up to 50 percent drop out before the end of the year.”

But Anderson and her husband Michael are not giving up. They’re among a number of area fishermen who are seeking out new, innovative ways to stay afloat.
Niaz Dorry, of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, said it’s important for fishermen not to panic. Although she is concerned about the potential impact of the new regulations, she remains hopeful the industry will find a way to survive.

“We really need the fishermen to keep hope alive, to actually be able to keep their businesses together and viable and not quickly succumb to what they suspect will happen,” Dorry said. “It doesn’t have to be doom and gloom.”

The goal of the new regulations is to protect 19 regional groundfish stocks, 13 of which are currently imperiled, according to Maggie Mooney-Seus, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“The measures are to help rebuild those 13, but also to keep reasonable limits on the rest of the stocks,” Mooney-Seus said.

She said she understands the apprehension of local fishermen and admits the regulations will create difficulties in the short term. But the NOAA is required by law to meet certain targets for rebuilding groundfish populations, based on revisions to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

At the same time they reduce the catch, the new regulations also create a major change in the way the Northeast fishery is managed. Fishermen can now join groups of fishing vessels known as sectors. Each sector is allotted a portion of the total available groundfish catch based on the combined fishing history of its boats from 1996 to 2006. The sectors are free to divvy their catch allotments between their member vessels however they see fit.

Boats that opt out of sectors must comply with strict limits on the number of days they’re allowed to fish, as well as seasonal and area closures. Sector boats have more freedom to fish where and when they want, as long as they don’t exceed the sector’s total groundfish allotment. They’re also exempt from certain gear restrictions.

“We’re trying to give the industry as much flexibility as we can while still continuing to rebuild these fish stocks,” Mooney-Seus said.

Fishing boats—whether in a sector or not—can also trade or lease shares of the catch or fishing days. While this gives boats an opportunity to increase their groundfish allotment, Dorry worries local fishermen will sell their shares to large corporations, causing a mass consolidation of the industry.

If a few major corporations take over the fishery, the ecological and economic hazards could outweigh the benefits, Dorry said, which would “undermine the security, safety and sovereignty of our local fishing fleet.”

The resulting scenario could mirror what’s happened to the agricultural industry on land. That’s why Dorry has helped initiate By Land and by Sea meetings, bringing Maine farmers and fishermen together to discuss their mutual goals and concerns.
“We’ve been really focused on trying to learn from the lessons learned in the world of food on land,” she said.

Fishermen have already borrowed some ideas from the farmers’ playbook. Carolyn Eastman and her husband Ed, who own Eastman’s Fish Market in Seabrook, started a community supported fishery last summer, following the model of community supported agriculture. Customers pay in advance to become shareholders in the catch.

Eastman’s CSF started with around 50 members last summer, then jumped to about 150 members in the fall. She expects between 300 and 400 people to sign up this summer, which would mean growth of up to 800 percent in just one year.

A number of other CSFs have sprung up around coastal New England. The Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative, located in Seabrook Harbor, began offering a shrimp CSF last winter. “All the CSFs have been really heartwarmingly successfully,” Dorry said.
That success is due in part to consumers’ growing interest in knowing where their food comes from. The Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance has been busy building new direct markets for the local fishing industry. “We’re working on creative distribution mechanisms, and CSFs are one of them,” Dorry said.

The “New Hampshire Seafood Fresh and Local” brand helps consumers identify locally landed seafood. And farmers markets held around the Seacoast enable fishermen to sell fish directly to consumers. Other fishermen are becoming federally permitted seafood dealers so they can sell fish right off their boats at the dock.

Anderson has also helped launch the New Hampshire Fishermen and Community Preservation Alliance, a non-profit organization aimed at assisting fishermen, in part through permit banking efforts. The goal is to stave off out-of-state companies interested in purchasing the permits held by local fishermen. “This nonprofit offers a way to buy permits and keep them in state,” Anderson said.

Eastman said the new regulations force fishermen to rethink how often they fish. For example, her husband’s fishing boat will be limited to catching about 40,000 pounds of cod this year. In the past, he was allowed to reel in 800 pounds of cod per day. Under the new regulations, there is no daily limit, but the 40,000-pound cap will force him to think strategically about how often he fishes for cod. Maybe that means only fishing four days per week instead of five or six, Eastman said.

“Without that kind of self control and different thinking about how you’re going to go fishing, you may see that some fishermen are going to wipe out their quota pretty quick,” she said.

Fishermen also need to start fishing for a wider array of locally available species, Dorry said. “People are essentially fishing for one or two species, only because they’re what are considered the moneymakers,” she said. Instead, they should “fish according to the cycles of the ocean instead of the cycles of the market.”

If they succeed, consumers must also be open to different fish varieties. Many consumers have already become more aware of the seasonality of food on land. “We want the same sort of sophistication to come to seafood,” Dorry said.

Another way consumers can help the industry is by purchasing whole fish. Although the Eastman’s CSF offers filleted fish, others only offer whole specimen. According to Dorry, filleting a fish only yields about 45 percent of the edible flesh.

“Where the public’s habits need to change is in the realm of being a little bit more receptive to eating whole fish. That’s one of the things that will make the life of a CSF a little more doable,” Dorry said.

The overall impact of the new regulations remains to be seen. Local fishermen, who have been adhering to various regulations and gear restrictions for years, question whether federal regulators have adequately studied the potential effects of their rules. If past attempts to manage the fishery have not rebuilt groundfish stocks, they wonder, what’s the guarantee that this will work any better?

“There’s never been really a full-blown sector management program anywhere that we know of, so it’s really hard to find a comparable study to look at,” Mooney-Seus said.

She added that past efforts to rebuild fish stocks have resulted in some successes, particularly for haddock and, in some areas, cod. Although she acknowledges the regulations will be tough to live by, she said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has spent $47 million over the last two years to support the industry and fund monitoring programs. 

To Anderson, there are countless reasons to protect the local fishing industry from the forces of globalization. Today, she said, 84 percent of the area’s seafood is imported.

Much of that food is not traceable and is harvested unsustainably. Transporting food from overseas has a negative environmental impact, and the fish often contain unhealthy antibiotics and chemicals.

The process leaves Seacoast consumers with little control over what they eat. In addition to her other efforts, Anderson is trying to get local seafood used in school cafeterias, helping kids develop good eating habits early on.

“It’s important to have choices in terms of taste, in terms of nutrition, in terms of health,” Anderson said. “I think consumers are realizing that now more so than ever.”