Groundfish Fleet Restructuring Information and Analysis Project
1. Project Background
1. Project Background
2. Geography and Capacity of Fleet
3. Results of Numerical Scenarios
4. Results of Policy-Oriented Scenarios
» Download the full final report (2.3 Mb pdf) file which contains Part II - Technical Documentation (not available otherwise online)
The groundfish fishery on the West Coast has undergone significant changes since the passing of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976. After an initial period of expansion, allowable landings of groundfish and other species have generally declined over the past 20 years. Groundfish stock assessments have painted an increasingly troublesome picture of the health of fishery resources. Resultant management actions have become ever more stringent. In 2002, large areas of the upper continental shelf were, for the first time, closed to fishing. In response to dwindling stocks and associated revenues, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) adopted a strategic plan in 2000, titled "Transition to Sustainability" (PFMC 2000), which prioritizes management options for ensuring the future of the fishery. The top priority was to reduce fishing capacity by at least 50% in each fishery sector. The goal of groundfish fleet reduction appears even more urgent in light of the recent and most restrictive harvest regulations in regional history, necessitated by plummeting populations of several rockfish species.
Any reduction of the fleet, whether carefully designed or the result of regulatory or market forces, cannot help but have considerable impacts on coastal communities. Social and economic impacts can vary considerably from community to community, depending on local fleet composition, traditional target species, transportation, processing facilities and other portside infrastructure, and other factors. Likewise, any change in the composition of the fishing fleet-and hence in the size, location, and timing of fishing activity and effort along the coast-has consequences on the marine environment and living resources. Recognizing the need for a comprehensive port-by-port analysis of the fishery, and the necessary analytical framework to assess these impacts, the Pacific Marine Conservation Council (PMCC) partnered with Ecotrust in 2001, and jointly initiated the Groundfish Fleet Restructuring Information and Analysis Project (GFR project).
The goals of the project were to:
- Compile a comprehensive set of data and information in a format that can be used by all who wish to explore fleet reduction options and other management measures;
- Produce a set of analytical, publicly available, tools including:
- Fleet reduction scenarios that consider fleet composition, shore-based infrastructure, harvest history, spatial dynamics, and economic trends from the perspective of local communities;
- A matrix or simulation to analyze potential social and economic effects of these scenarios; and
- Case studies illustrating different port profiles, empirical information on fishing and processing businesses, market dynamics, and the potential effects of fleet buyout proposals and other management measures;
- Prepare a set of policy options as well as an executive report to be presented to the Pacific Fishery Management Council and made available to all interested parties.
With this document we report on the work towards these goals, and present the findings of the GFR project to our partners at PMCC, as well as to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the fishing industry, the scientific community, and the public at large.
