Gloucester's Fishing Industry Braces Itself

By Dianne Finch on Friday, May 7, 2004.

listen:

Gloucester Mass is once again bracing itself for change.

New federally mandated rules are taking effect that aim to rebuild ground fish stocks.

But the new rules cut New England fishermen's days at sea.

And with the loss of work comes a loss of money to the quintessential fishing town.

NHPR Correspondent Dianne Finch has more.

Keeping watch over Gloucester's working harbor.
is that famous statue of the Fisherman in his rain gear.

It's a memorial to all who have lost their lives harvesting the sea.

The Man Behind the Wheel looks out at large commercial ground fish draggers moving gently by sailboats, schooners, dories and whale watch boats.

The waterfront is dotted with companies serving the fishing industry.

There are shipyards for repairs, ice manufacturers, a fish auction house and several processing plants and wholesalers.

In fact fishing accounts for at least 15 percent of
Gloucester's economy.

Mayor, John Bell.

BELL: The fishing indy IS Gloucester. Weï¿½ve been here for 400 years. Folks from Euope came for gold in the water which is COD. The Fishg industry is 75 percent of what it was 25-30 years ago..It still accounts for 1200 jobs - It is enormously important to who we are as a city - We are grateful of our heritage linked to the sea.

400 years later, Cod and other groundfish are still the mainstay of Gloucesterï¿½s fishing industry. -

SOUND OF BOAT COMING IN
A large ground fish dragger, the Harmony, arrives from Portland, Maine.

Captain David Haggerty and his 3-man crew will head for Georgeï¿½s Bank after filling up with 18 tons of ice.

They plan to spend 7 days dragging large nets through the Atlantic's frigid waters where they say haddock are abundant.

But the captain isnï¿½t optimistic about the future of his industry, or his livlihood.

The new federal rules reduce his days at sea - and his salary.

How am I supposed to react, Iï¿½m out of business. I have to find something else to do , I canï¿½t make it in 50 days - the owner canï¿½t make it in 50 days. I canï¿½t make a yearï¿½s - I canï¿½t put my kids through college on 50 days - ground fish days. Didnï¿½t plan on this - this was ah believe it or not it was sudden - we still shockedï¿½Everybody is going to be hurting ï¿½.

SOUND OF ICE POURING INTO ENGINE - fade under narration

300 pound ice cubes emptied from trays, crushed, then pushed from the factory through a long hose into the boatï¿½s hold - where the fish will be stored.

SOUND - ice comeing through hose

Cape Pond Ice owner, Scott Memard, has owned the 150-year-old factory since the 1980s.

He says he is bracing for another revenue loss.

When boats spend less time fishing - they buy less ice.

We tighten our belt and act conservative. We are deferring maintenance and investments to the wharf or ice machinery. We have to make sure we are in a healthy position with the latest round Amendment 13, to commercial fishing industry.

Amendment 13, that's the name for the new federal regulations that limit how many days boats can fish.

But this isn't the first time the government has sought to protect fishing stocks.

In the late 1990s, the plan was to reduce the number of fisherman by buying their boats.

Cape Pond Ice owner, Scott Menard..

We lost 20 customers. They would each buy 20 to 30 thousand dollars worth of ice in the course of a yearï¿½.We are a small business and they were large customersï¿½.In 1983 the bus was 80 percent fishing, now its about 40 percent.

In 1981, 81 million pounds of fish landed in Gloucester Harbor.

20 years later, after declines in species and increases in regulations - about 12 million pounds of fish arrived in town.

SOUND ? Seagulls?

David Pierce, is deputy director of Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

He's also a voting member of the regional council that, devises fishery management plans for the New England region.

He says the new regulations are meant to conserve groundfish stocks.

Amendment 13 is required because fish mortality in the Gulf of Maine is too high for the most part. Over-fishing is occurring, and federal law requires we stop overfishing and rebuild fish stocks.

But Pierce agrees with local fishermen, who say the regulations are too strict and that many species are back to healthy quantities.

And then suddenly we got some additional information from scientists, who do a good job, and they determined that targets should be raised. The advice was raise those targets significantly, so instead of many species being at those targets - now we are far awayï¿½

--- The new plan could have been much harder on the industry. Last year, economic studies showed the plan would have cost Gloucesterï¿½s fleet and local businesses between 12 and 35 million dollars.

Fishing vessels stood to lose up to 70 percent of their income.

But the fishing industry - fearing extinction - actively opposed it.

They proposed a solution that called for less severe cuts in days at sea.

And it allowed more fishing for stocks that have rebounded, like haddock.

-----Still, it is difficult to find optimism among the waterfront businesses and local fishermen.

SOUND OF NET DRAGGING ONTO BOAT

Lou Williams has been fishing for ground fish for over a decade.

He says heï¿½ll be fishing about one quarter of the days he fished before the last few rounds of regulations

When he started he he believed he would pay for his childrenï¿½s college tuition.

ï¿½My son, I have 3 daughters and a son. I stopped taking him fishing with me, heï¿½s 13 now, and I stopped taking him a few years ago, I donï¿½t want him to get into this business. It is pretty sad - he could get hooked like his father did.ï¿½

B&N Gear is the only game in town for bottom trawl gear.

Owner Corrado Buchieri says all his competitors have either sold out or retired.

But then again, so have most of his largest customers.

He relies on his auto body shop for income..

Most of my friends are in the fishing industry. I felt now that itï¿½s the tail end, without me there is no industry. .......I have to decide what to do, and thatï¿½s where I am right nowï¿½.

One common theme that comes up in conversations with fishermen and vendors in Gloucester : -- uncertainty.

Frank Rose owns Rose Marine - a waterfront company that repairs fishing vessels and sells fuel and other supplies.

Rose: The largest Largest problem, no final decress. With indecision, you get no investment. Industry is really stagnant and no one knows exactly what to doï¿½.As far as how they are going to arbitrarily cut down the number of days you currently have, no one knows what to do - whether to invest or get out.

SEAGULLS ï¿½ï¿½some chains on deck and crew voices..

For NHPR - this is Dianne Finch