ELLSWORTH, Maine — Federal officials declared a groundfish fisheries disaster for the Northeast on Thursday, paving the way for Congress to appropriate money that would go to fishermen affected by the declining fish stocks.
According to a prepared statement released Thursday morning by the U.S. Department of Commerce, several key fish stocks are not rebuilding, which is expected to result in further restrictions on catch limits for the 2013 fishing season.
“The Department of Commerce has determined that the diminished fish stocks have resulted despite fishermen’s adherence to catch limits intended to rebuild the stocks,” Rebecca Blank, the acting secretary of the department, said in the statement. “I am making a fishery failure declaration so that Congress is able to appropriate funding that will mitigate some of the economic consequences of the reduced stocks and help rebuild a sustainable fishery.”
On Wednesday, Gov. Paul LePage and other New England governors signed a letter requesting the declaration.
In a separate prepared statement released Wednesday, before the disaster declaration was made, the governor’s office said the declaration would prompt federal officials to provide $100 million in relief funds to the Northeast groundfishing fleet. Reduced catch limits for cod, haddock, yellowtail flounder and other groundfish species are expected to go into effect by May 1, 2013, due to updated stock assessments that show the biomass of such species to be lower than previously thought.
“Given the magnitude of the projected cuts — up to 73 percent — the impacts to the commercial fishing industry will be profound, affecting vessels of all sizes and gear types throughout the region,” the statement indicated.
LePage said in the statement that, because of the anticipated catch reductions, “disaster relief is more critical than ever.”
Meredith Mendelson, deputy commissioner for Maine Department of Marine Resources, said Thursday that the declaration “lends a lot of credibility” to the conditions that groundfishermen are facing.
“We have a lot of work to do to mitigate the impact of those [catch] reductions,” Mendelson said.
When industry relief funds might become available depends on when Congress might approve the appropriation. The proposed $100 million aid package could be debated in Congress during the lame-duck session after the election, according to some federal officials.
All four members of Maine’s congressional delegation released a joint statement Thursday, welcoming the disaster declaration.
“The fact is, key fish stocks have not returned to support our fishermen despite their adherence to new and rigorous management practices,” the delegation said in the statement. “It is now time for Congress to support this industry by lowering operating costs for this upcoming fishing year and by investing in the resource for the long-term through scientific research to better understand these challenges.”
The aid package as currently conceived includes direct aid to fishermen and money to cover required costs, such as the independent observers to monitor their catch. It also includes funds to improve fishery science and stock assessments, which fishermen complain are inaccurate.
Federal and state lawmakers have pursued the disaster declaration since 2010, when new regulations were enacted in New England that put tough limits on how much fishermen can catch of a given species.
In the two years since, federal scientists have reported key stocks aren’t rebuilding quickly enough, including cod in the Gulf of Maine and yellowtail flounder in the Georges Bank fishing grounds off southeastern New England.
The Northeast Seafood Coalition, an industry group, applauded the disaster declaration and said regulations are needed that better account for how fisheries fit into the larger environment.
“It is unfair to hold fishermen exclusively accountable for natural cycles of complex ecosystems,” the coalition said.
Johanna Thomas of the Environmental Defense Fund said a better grasp is critically needed on how fish abundance is affected by factors such as climate change, pressure on local coasts and warming ocean temperatures.
“The problems facing the fishery … are long-term and the solutions should be also,” she said.
According to state officials there are approximately 45 fishing vessels based in Maine, the vast majority of them in the southern part of the state, that are using active groundfish permits. In 2011, those vessels brought ashore in Maine more than 5 million pounds of groundfish, with an estimated dockside value of nearly $5.8 million.
Annual landings for most of Maine’s groundfish species used to amount to millions of pounds each year, according to DMR statistics.
For example, in 1991, more than 21 million pounds of cod were landed in Maine, but last year the cod caught by Maine fishermen amounted to only 814,000 pounds. Redfish landings in Maine peaked at nearly 80 million pounds in 1950 and still totaled more than 10 million pounds in 1982, but last year only 123,000 pounds were harvested in the state.
At their 2011 totals, groundfish currently make up roughly 2 percent of the volume, and 1 percent of all the value, of all commercially harvested marine fish species in Maine. Lobster, the state’s largest fishery, accounted for 104 million pounds, or 77 percent of all the total volume of all commercial fish landings, and $334 million in gross income for Maine fishermen in 2011.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Follow BDN reporter Bill Trotter on Twitter at @billtrotter.
Another group of people that are going to be subsidize by the U.S. Government; can’t always throw money away to solve problems; this is just the tip of the iceberg, there will be more environmental consequences if we continue on the path of taking more than what the environment can give.
I would rather see them get it than the oil companies. Grow some compassion for something besides a bank account!
Everyone with a fishing pole and boat will now claim to be a “ground fishermen”.
Just so i’m clear. This was naturally occurring? There were no unusual circumstances leading up to this? Why would an emergency be declared?
“The Department of Commerce has determined that the diminished fish
stocks have resulted despite fishermen’s adherence to catch limits
intended to rebuild the stocks,” . . .
In anthropology it’s referred to as an evolutionary process. Fisherman have a difficult job; I’d never claim differently, but does this set a precedent for every industry that depends upon nature for its livelihood? If we have insufficient rain to support Wyman’s blueberry or Tate’s strawberry harvest, do we then apply for federal monies? Federal funds poured into the state as the paper industry was failing (due to federal decisions forcing the industry to fail); I don’t see that those monies have done anything other than put a bandaid on the gaping wound that didn’t heal. The monies are gone, the wound is still there; it’s just been pushed into the background for half a generation so that it’s all but forgotten.
The emergency isn’t in the depletion of ground fish, in my not so humble opinion. The emergency is in the mindset that if things get tough, we can just turn everything over to the federal government . . . “Big Daddy will take care of it.”
Whatever happened to the government being employed by the people rather than the people being employed by the government? I’d like to think that 99% of the people realize that we’ve become the support system for Washington DC, and that that 99% would begin making decisions that return freedom to the people.
There, I’ll get off the soapbox now.
So Gov Lepage, who loves to rail against “Big Govm’t” and over regulation, now has his hand out for money from “Big Govm’t”! What a hypocrite!
As a someone who generally supports LePage I must admit that you are completely correct about this…
It’s all about the money, whichever direction it goes.
The fisherman need support or the price of groundfish will keep going up and up. A lot of people can hardly afford to buy fish now as it is at the stores. And we are suppose to eat it twice a week. Then, have you looked at the price of steak now? I see people look at steak and walk away with nothing from that section every time I go to the grocery store. They pick a package up, then put it down and move on. Especially senior citizens and younger folks. It’s not right.
“I see people look at steak and walk away with nothing from that section every time I go to the grocery store.”
Since GWB removed the inspection controls in slaughter houses, who dares to eat meat?
The humble Farmer
Right! Not to mention pink slime in the hamburg! I have been buying half a cow / half a lamb from Maine farmers and split it with family and friends. Support local farmers people, at least you know what you are getting.
This is true! My family eats almost exclusively poultry and pork now. Fish and red meat are only for special occasions.
It’s the trollers that are depleting our groundfish. They tear up the ocean floor and catch many groundfish in their nets and when they haul the net aboard, the fish are dead or near death and they have to dispose of them because they do not have the appropriate licenses to sell the fish. That is where the problem lies, it’s not a natural occurance.
Bummer. What a waste.
Those people who look at the steak and walk away are working for the same wage they were 20 years ago and their buying power is shrinking faster than the Titanic. Too bad they can’t just take a look at gas or heating oil and walk away. At least we give the seniors a COLA every year. It may not be much, but at least they are not going backwards.
Thank goodness. Now they’ll be able to keep their 2012 GMC Denali’s.
This is a real knee slapper! They FORCE new limits on said fisherman based on questionable data at best and then turn around and give them subsides. Any fisherman I know, which is several, would rather be left alone to make an honest living.
so they go out and scoop up all the fish , make good money and when the fish are all gone they wonder why or just don’t care. and we the taxpayer gotta give them more money to do nothing. canada overfished and the cod will never come back. same thing is happening here. ban nets and longlines.
I have never met a Poor fisherman, there boats are all worth over a 100 thousand dallars
Good job Mr. Lepage, keep up the great work.
Fresh fish in the supermarket…lol
You bail away at buffalo or fish or anything else that swims or walks and pretty soon there ain’t gonna be no more.
Thanks to government regulations requested by Maine lobster catchers, there seems to be no shortage of Maine lobsters. Everything about the Maine lobster industry is controlled down to a fraction of an inch which ensures the continuation of at least one way of making a living.
You might remember reading that during WW II when fishing was curtailed off the Irish coast by enemy submarines, the fish came back.
The humble Farmer
I had to repost this comment and replace a proper noun with “enemy submarines.” When called by name, references to combatants in WW II seem to be rejected when posted to this page. Was there something shameful about that war that should not appear on a blog that might be read by children?
Lepage is such a hypocrite, lying (I must be polite here), politician! He sides with the GOP for privatization, charter schools, union busting, anything that lowers state expenses. But oh, when it comes to bringing home the federal bacon, well that’s another story.
“The Department of Commerce has determined that the diminished fish
stocks have resulted despite the fishermen’s adherence to catch limits
intended to rebuild the stocks,” Rebecca Blank, the acting secretary of
the department, said in the statement.
This can be read to mean ” Domestic fishing limits had no appreciable affects on the stock population therefore we will further reduce the fishing limits in order to make ourselves look like we are actually doing something. We will continue to throw money at the problem without actually recognizing the problem caused by offshore fishing by other nations on North American fishing grounds.
So your philosophy is that since others are overfishing, then we should overfish too? Isn’t that the quickest way to no fish left in the sea at all?
NO. The fishing treaties must be negotiated so that ALL nations are adhering to the same set of rules. I see only US fisheries being targeted by this action. This has been shown to be the truth time and time again specifically in relation to the Atlantic Salmon. It has been years since the DMR railroaded their way into Down-east Maine and threw their weight around in how to “restore” the fishery. IT HAS FAILED MISERABLY. Every once in awhile there is a press release spouting what great strides they are making but it usually coincides with wanting more money from the federal trough.
Well, it is a start. Now, if we could get them to declare a federal disaster for the shoe, paper, textile, and logging industries, we could all go borrow federal money that we couldn’t afford to repay.
You go Gov! Getting money for working people is
a good thing. The libbers who will scream want you
to get money for freeloaders.
Who to believe…
Well as a former groundfisherman i can tell you why there was 21 million pounds landed in 1991 and only 813,000 last year…andits because there were 1500 boats in 1991 and theres only 50 last year so hmmmmmmm i wonder why theres no fish….its a disaster alright there just 15 years to late……
I’m not a ground fisherman but I read the best selling book “Cod” about 15 years ago and it described exactly what happened to the cod fishery in the north Atlantic and you’re right about them being 15 years too late to figure it out. I read that book and since then have been regularly hearing fishermen and fishing advocates declaring that there were no need for limits or that the limits were too low and wondered how they could possibly be so ill informed. Now these same people who made money by continuing to overfish and denying what scientists who study fish told them was going to happen are going to get bailed out to the tune of $100,000,000. Amazing!
wait… if i over fish an area i can get more money because of my poor management of a limited resource. boo yaa i have some ideas.
Congress still has to appropriate the money according to the article, which may not be a slam dunk. Of course, this is an election year.
Aquaculture?
Funny, the only animals that reproduce after we’ve eaten them are not animals we’d want to eat. Fish aren’t in that category, and for the past 70 years fishing technology has allowed us to kill all marketable fish species faster than they could reproduce. Pair seining and factory trawling for fish is like bombing for deer. Eventually only insects are left where the woods once flourished, and that’s what we’ve got now–lobsters on the bottom of a water column that once produced many species of market fish by the hundreds of thousands. Maine’s fishing industry in 1898 employed 16,954 men fishing, transporting and onshore. They produced 129,404,561 lbs of fish, well over half of it in the “shore” fisheries, that is, alongshore or in boats of less than 5 tons, without motors. However, as the fish grew scarce, technology stepped in to improve catching efficiency, so fish could still be caught and sold profitably. Now we see the results. Maine’s coastal waters today contain less than 1% of the edible fish biomass that was there in 1898, and that had already in 1898 been fished down considerably since the Civil War era. The Magnuson-Stevens Act could have created an opportunity to reverse that trend, but instead of encouraging small family and neighborhood-operated vessels that made small, recoverable dents in the ecosystem, the government encouraged building vessels as large as the foreign vessels they’d just thrown out of our territorial waters. Want to restore the Gulf of Maine marine ecosystem? Buy up and recycle all fishing vessels over 35 tons deadweight, and forbid the use of any nets with less than a 7″ mesh except on sampling trawls, and all nets covering more than 50 square yards, within 200 miles of the coast. Then take down every dam on every river in Maine, and replace the hydrostatic head generating concept with helical turbines aligned with the current, so anadromous species can get to their spawning grounds unhindered.