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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 32 Number 7
March 2005
Fleet Visioning Project: Groundfish reality check
KINGSTON, RI – Eleven members of the Fleet Visioning Project steering committee gathered here at the Rhode Island Commercial Fisheries Center Feb. 7-8 to discuss how the project can successfully accomplish its mission.
The committee, which is still evolving, is made up of prominent industry members from Maine to New York who represent a wide array of industry sectors and gear types.
“I’m very excited about this group,” said Project Director Liz Rettenmaier. “I appreciate that these people have agreed to work with me to shape and direct the Fleet Visioning Project.”
Given growing acceptance of the fact that even a fully rebuilt groundfish resource will be able to support far less fishing effort than currently exists, the purpose of the project is to help stakeholders have a say in what the industry will look like in the future.
Committee member Paul Howard, executive director of the New England Fishery Management Council, believes the steering committee made some important strides during the two-day session.
“It was a good first meeting,” he said. “It clearly demonstrated how important it is to address the capacity problem and how difficult it’s going to be. It’s a very complicated and controversial issue.”
Steering committee member Jackie Odell of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, who also attended the first meeting, concurred.
“This is a really, really big task,” she said. “There’s a lot to do in a very short amount of time.”
However, Odell emphasized that the steering committee’s role is limited.
“This group is not making any final decisions about what the fleet is going to look like,” she said. “That’s really going to come from the people who participate.”
Committee’s goals
The steering committee used its first session to set three goals for itself. These include:
• Define the scope of the groundfish capacity problem and gathering input about a proposed definition of capacity;
• Identify members of the groundfishing community and finding ways to engage them in the visioning process; and
• Promote an “understanding of – and unity among – the various perspectives in the groundfishing community regarding the future of the fleet.”
One of the biggest questions on people’s minds is: What level of industry participation will be necessary to make this project legitimate?
A subgroup of the steering committee charged with addressing this issue determined that at least 20% participation from each major sector of the industry would be needed. Participants should represent federal and state permit holders, different gear types, different vessel sizes, and different geographic areas by major ports and states.
What’s next
According to Rettenmaier, the project will launch a sweeping survey of stakeholders beginning in March by distributing questionnaires through auction houses, gear suppliers, industry associations, and the Fleet Visioning Project web site.
Stakeholders will be asked:
• “What is your vision for the future of the groundfishing fleet, including its composition, capacity, and geographic distribution?
• “Why is the future of the groundfishing fleet important to you?
• “How can your vision of the groundfishing fleet be most effectively implemented, including both short- and long-term changes?” And
• “What might you do to help?”
Beginning in June, project leaders will travel to a dozen different fishing ports to hold regional meetings with people who filled out the questionnaires “and who are interested in engaging in the next step,” said Rettenmaier.
Representatives from each of the regional meetings will gather for a final October summit meeting to synthesize regional perspectives into a comprehensive vision. This is the vision that will be turned over to regulators.
“I would really, really urge people to get involved,” said Odell.
“None of us know what the outcome of the project is going to be. There could be one vision or there could be many visions. I just want to be sure the industry has a say in how it’s being regulated, and this is an opportunity for the industry to provide a voice in that process,” she said.
Council’s role
Paul Howard approached the council’s executive committee before agreeing to serve on the visioning project’s steering committee.
“I told the executive committee that I believed it was absolutely essential that we work with this group because the council ultimately will be asked to implement the vision,” he said. “This group needs to be step-in-step with the council so that everyone is well versed and knowledgeable about the project.”
Furthermore, Howard said the council would be reconstituting its own capacity committee to include representatives from the vision project’s steering committee, along with council members, economists, sociologists, researchers, and other industry members.
The combined effort is important, he said, because overcapacity is affecting so many of the council’s decisions.
“If you have excess capacity, it’s very difficult to be fair to everyone,” he said.
Face-to-face
Rettenmaier attended the New England council’s Feb. 1-3 meeting in Portsmouth, NH to introduced herself to the council and describe the Fleet Visioning Project.
She emphasized that stakeholders from other fisheries should get involved with the project, too.
“The future of the groundfishing fleet depends on those working in interrelated fisheries, shoreside industries, and affected communities,” she said. “Economically, socially, and ecologically, the groundfishery is tied to other major fisheries in the Northeast, so we invite fishermen from other sectors to help us.”
Council members asked Rettenmaier several questions and offered advice.
“If you only go to the 75 usual suspects, you’re not going to get a true view of what the fishing fleet really thinks,” said Dave Goethel of New Hampshire.
Fellow New Hampshire council member John Nelson asked about the end product.
“How do you know it’ll be the right vision?” he asked. “What kind of reality checks are you going to have to see if this is doable?”
Rettenmaier said the vision should be on target because it’ll be “collaboratively forged” by a wide group of industry members. She explained that, as project director, she would guide the effort, but the vision itself would be molded by those who have stakes in the outcome.
Skepticism
Maggie Raymond of Associated Fisheries of Maine continued to question the ability of the project to produce a valid result.
“Certainly Associated Fisheries of Maine supports dealing with capacity in the groundfish industry, but we want to be sure that what comes out of this is truly an industry vision and not something from a foundation,” she said.
Raymond also expressed concern about the council’s role in the project.
“By committing resources to this project so early, you’re presupposing this group is going to do what it says it’s going to do. What they decide may not be what’s going to happen,” she said.
According to Howard, that’s why it’s critical for the council to be involved.
“If we participate in the visioning project and take a bottoms-up approach to addressing capacity, we’ll be building a buy-in with industry. This is the best way to get the ideas of the community,” he said.
Origins
The concept for the visioning project was developed by the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, but the project is being run independently and is operating under the direction of Rettenmaier, who last worked as a senior planner on the Maine State Planning Office’s land use team.
The Andrus Family Fund provided funding for the project through its Community Reconciliation Program. The ARIA Group of Yellow Springs, OH and Conflict Management Group of Cambridge, MA helped develop the project’s format and will continue to occasionally provide facilitators for meetings and workshops.
Janice M. Plante
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