Metrics

This indicator shows changes in the number of fishing boats that actively participate in the catch share fishery.

Analysis

Baseline: Before Catch Share Program

The size of the groundfish fleet declined during the baseline period as fishing restrictions became more stringent (Management Framework) and groundfish catch and revenue declined (Financial Viability of the Fishery: Landings and Financial Viability of the Fishery: Revenues). Global economic forces and supply chain demands also contributed to increased fleet consolidation. As lower groundfish landings led to unpredictability of supply, dealers sought sources that were more reliable, such as less expensive, frozen groundfish imports. This shift caused downward pressure on prices for local groundfish, which led more fishermen to exit the fishery.

The number of limited access groundfish vessels that were active (i.e., landed groundfish on at least one trip) decreased 48 percent from 1996 (approximately 1,105 vessels) to 2009 (approximately 571). During that period, among the largest annual declines were 10 percent in 2001–2002 and 2004–2005. A federal buyout program removed 245 active limited access multispecies permits at the end of 2001. Moreover, additional closed areas and other fishing restrictions were imposed as a result of a lawsuit filed in 2001. In 2004, a number of measures were implemented under Amendment 13 that increased fleet consolidation, including provisions for the leasing or transfer of days-at-sea (DAS) between comparable vessels (Management Framework).

The decline in the number of active groundfish vessels occurred across all vessel size categories. Area closures tended to disproportionately affect small, day-trip boats, while management measures such as trip limits and the DAS program that compelled fishermen to reduce their fishing range were more constraining for larger size vessels because of their greater production capacity. As a result of this mix of varied effects across vessel size categories, the proportion of the entire active groundfish fleet represented by each size category remained fairly consistent, with the active vessels less than 30 feet long staying at 4 to 6 percent of the total; vessels from 30 feet to less than 50 feet long at 50 to 56 percent; vessels from 50 feet to less than 75 feet long at 27 to 32 percent; and vessels 75 feet or longer at 11 to 12 percent. Restrictions in the DAS program that limited the transfer and leasing of DAS from smaller to larger vessels helped maintain fleet diversity.

Between 1996 and 2009, groundfish landings and gross revenues became concentrated among fewer individual vessels. The number of vessels landing groundfish fell by around half over the 13-year period, while fleet-wide landings decreased about 11 percent (Financial Viability of the Fishery: Landings), and inflation-adjusted revenues decreased about 37 percent (Financial Viability of the Fishery: Revenues). During roughly the same period, however, the distribution of landings across vessels showed no appreciable change. From 1996 to 2007, about 20 percent of the vessels consistently accounted for about 80 percent of the total groundfish landings each year. About half of all active vessels landed less than five percent of the total catch during the same time period. The high percentage of vessels landing relatively small amounts of groundfish suggests that many vessels were catching groundfish as incidental catch in another fishery or as a minor supplement to their total fishing income.

During Catch Share Program

During the first year of the Northeast Multispecies Sector Program, the number of active vessels fell around 22 percent, larger than any percentage decrease during the extended baseline period. It is likely that some vessel owners received insufficient allocations of fish to make groundfish fishing profitable. For example, some vessels had never been more than part-time participants in the groundfish fishery. In addition, the catch share program resulted in the implementation of a number of measures that reduced fleet size without necessarily requiring owners of non-active vessels to entirely exit the fishery. For instance, a fisherman with a limited access multispecies permit on each of three vessels is allowed to stack all three permits onto one active vessel. By stacking their permits and fishing their ACE holdings off fewer vessels, fishermen can increase the flexibility and economic efficiency of their fishing operations. Further, roughly one-third of the fishermen enrolled in sectors do not catch allocated groundfish but instead transfer their entire quota to other fishermen.

After 2010, the number of fishermen harvesting groundfish continued to contract. The percentage of vessels landing groundfish fell by a relatively small amount in 2011 and 2012, but the percentage decrease jumped to 23 percent from 2012 to 2014 (401 to 307 vessels). At least part of the reason for the decrease was the unprecedented cuts in the harvest limits of key species in the Northeast groundfish fishery in 2013 (Annual Catch Limits), which, in turn, severely curtailed landings and revenues (Financial Viability of the Fishery: Landings and Financial Viability of the Fishery: Revenues). The average annual percent of vessels with limited access multispecies permits that only participated in non-groundfish fisheries increased from 30 percent during the five years preceding the implementation of the Northeast Multispecies Sector Program to 37 percent during the first five years of the catch share program, while the average annual percent of limited access multispecies permit holders who were inactive in both groundfish and non-groundfish fisheries increased from 36 percent to 47 percent.

In all vessel size categories, the number of vessels landing groundfish declined between 2009 and 2010. The number of active vessels less than 30 feet long declined by 29 percent (34 to 24 vessels), the most of any vessel size category. Vessel owners may have transferred the allocations associated with the small boats onto other vessels they own, or leased the allocations to other fishermen. The Northeast Multispecies Sector Program does not restrict the transfer of quota from smaller to larger vessels. As the catch share program continued, the largest percentage decline in the number of active groundfish vessels has occurred among vessels from 30 feet to less than 50 feet long (251 to 148 vessels from 2010 to 2014, or 41 percent), the category that contains the most vessels landing groundfish. Most fishermen who operate boats less than 50 feet in length typically do inshore, day trips only, while larger vessels have the ability to fish both inshore and offshore on multi-day trips (Financial Viability of the Fishery: Landings). As fishing operations strive to remain solvent under lower harvest limits for key species, large vessels are reportedly increasingly exploiting inshore fishing grounds, resulting in increased competition for groundfish resources in those areas (Fishing Effort). This increased competition may be accelerating the contraction of small boat operations because these vessels are unable to catch their quota in their traditional fishing grounds.

The category of vessels from 50 feet to less than 75 feet long, which contained the second-largest number of active groundfish vessels, experienced a 15 percent reduction (116 to 98 vessels). The number of vessels less than 30 feet long declined 29 percent (24 to 17 vessels). Finally, the number of active vessels 75 feet or longer dropped 20 percent between 2010 and 2014 (55 to 44 vessels). The overall result of these disproportionate changes across vessel size categories since the Northeast Multispecies Sector Program began is an increase in the prominence of the largest vessels.

Methods

Methods document available for download

Information Sources

Clayton, M. 2010. Consolidation of the New England Multispecies Fishery between 1996 and 2007. CapLog Group. Davis, CA.

Future of Fish and N. Inamdar. 2014. Building a Sustainable Value Chain for New England Groundfish. Prepared for the New Venture Fund’s New England Finfish Finance Needs Assessment Project. Washington, D.C.

Kitts, A. et al. 2011. 2010 Final Report on the Performance of the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery, (May 2010-April 2011). NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document 11-19. Woods Hole, MA.

Murphy, T. et al. 2012. 2011 Final Report on the Performance of the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery, (May 2011-April 2012). NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document 12-30. Woods Hole, MA

Murphy, T. et al. 2014. 2012 Final Report on the Performance of the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery, (May 2012-April 2013). NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document 14-01. Woods Hole, MA.

Murphy, T. et al. 2015. 2013 Final Report on the Performance of the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery, (May 2013-April 2014). National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document 15-02. Woods Hole, MA.

National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center. 2013. Indicators of Fleet Diversity in the New England Groundfish Fishery. Woods Hole, MA.

Olson, J. and P. Pinto da Silva. 2014. Changing boundaries and institutions in environmental governance: Perspectives on sector management of the Northeast U.S. groundfish fishery. Maritime Studies 13(3).

Updated: May 2018