Community-based Sectors for the New England Groundfish Fishery

stocks). In practice the only two sectors that have been authorized to date could be characterized
as community-based sectors. The members of both sectors fish out of Cape Cod (though this is
not an official restriction of membership) and both sectors voluntarily delineated a fishing area.
To date, both sectors are comprised of individual permit owners whose catch histories each
contribute to the overall sector allocation. However the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s
Association has begun to explore the concept of developing a permit bank owned by the
Association that would hold permits and associated catch histories that could contribute to the
sector allocation. The permit bank would enable the sector to purchase permits that might
otherwise be sold and migrate to other regions, and it could allow the sector to increase its share
of the fishery over time and provide a means for new entrants from the community to participate
in the fishery. To that end, both the GB Hook sector and the GB Fixed gear sector have included
right-of-first-refusal clauses in their sector contracts that provide the sector entity with the option
to purchase the permits of any members that are intending to sell their permits at a price equal to
what the individual has been offered by a private buyer.
3.0 Case Studies
The primary objective of this project is to conduct two case studies of potential community-based
sectors in Maine, one in the Midcoast region and one in the Southern region. Port Clyde is the
only port with a significant number of active groundfish boats in the Midcoast region. These
fishermen have also formed an association, the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association. For these
reasons, Port Clyde was chosen for one of the case studies. Portland is, by far the largest
groundfish port in Maine in terms of landings and vessels landing there. For that reason Portland
was chosen for the second case study. Although there is a group working with the Portland Fish
Exchange that is developing a sector, the sector includes vessels from three states landing in
several ports and does not fit the conceptual idea of a community-based sector being explored for
this study (i.e., one tied to a geographically defined community). For that reason, a case study
was conducted on a hypothetical sector including vessels that landed the majority of their
groundfish in Portland in the 2005/06 fishing year.
The case studies include: discussion of the objectives of the fishermen and the community for
setting up a community-based sector; a description of the potential sector including its structure,
potential participants and basic operational plan; and an analysis of the economic feasibility of
setting up and operating the sector. The port specific case studies are followed by an economic
feasibility analysis of a permit bank that could be developed in conjunction with a communitybased
sector. Operational and regulatory issues for the sectors that may present difficulties are
then discussed.
3.1 Port Clyde Community-based Groundfish Sector
The case study of the Port Clyde community-based sector was facilitated by the existence of the
Midcoast Fisherman’s Association which was established in 2006 by a group of area fishermen
that came together to discuss and deliberate the future of their industry. They decided to form an
organization that would be “an active voice for their interest in preserving a healthy ocean,
balanced with a need to maintain the viability of local coastal fishing communities.” I presented
the concept of a community-based sector to the association in June 2006. The members were
uncertain whether this form of management would suit them but voted unanimously to work with
14