Price Controls Urged on
Groundfish Leasing

by Laurie Schreiber

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – A mechanism, meant to allow remaining groundfishermen to earn a viable income, has itself gone out of whack, according to one fisherman.

“Last year, for myself, was the worst year I ever had for myself and my crewman,” New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel told the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) at its January meeting. “The money all went for leased fish. My crewman earned less than minimum wage, and I didn’t earn much more than that.”

Goethel asked NEFMC to task its groundfish advisory committee to explore ways to address the high cost of leasing.

“The price of four stocks in the Gulf of Maine – Gulf of Maine cod, Gulf of Maine haddock, Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine haddock, and gray sole – exceeds the value of the fish before you ever get to the dock,” he said. “It’s an untenable situation. You simply cannot fish.”

Goethel asked NEFMC to consider strategies such as price controls; and a seasonal option that would require people who are going to lease fish to lease them by a certain time of year, which might drive the price down.

“Something has to be done, or you will have no fishing,” he said. “This is a problem that’s going to exist until these quotas are changed. That could be who knows how long.”

According to a Northeast Fisheries Science Center performance report for the fishing year that ran from May 2012 to April 2013, groundfish landings declined 24.9 percent from the previous year. Although average prices for groundfish rose by 2.7 percent, revenues fell 22.9 percent. Since 2009, the number of vessels with revenue from a groundfish trip fell 29.2 percent.

For 2012-2013, about a third of sector members leased their quota to other fishermen.

“For vessels that need quota in order to fish, obtaining quota is a true cost and the financial significance of that cost becomes greater with declining net revenues,” the report says. “Reductions in net revenues due to quota costs ranged from 3.9 percent to 25.7 percent based on vessel size category.”Sector members who leased out their quota earned from $4,900 to $48,287, the report says.