New England Commercial Ground-fishermen: Adaptation and Transition

• Main Authors: Murphy, Tammy, Henry, Anna
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: North American Association of Fisheries Economists
• Subjects: Fisheries > Economic aspects > Congresses; Sustainable fisheries > Congresses; atlantic cod
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/conference_proceedings_or_journals/zs25x952q

Fishing years 2012 -2013 brought declines in socio-economic performance for the Northeast groundfish fishery. Severe reductions in catch limits for key species such as Atlantic cod have constrained fishing behavior and declining groundfish revenues cannot be offset by non-groundfish revenues earned by the fleet. Little is known about the way groundfish fishermen are making decisions in response to changes in the fishery. We present results from approximately 60 ethnographic interviews with previously active groundfish fishermen who exited the fishery and current active participants who are considering transitioning out of the fishery. Interviews focused on level of participation in the groundfish fishery, changes since the implementation of catch shares and factors that have influenced decision-making around continued participation or exiting the groundfish fishery. The information collected suggests that adaptation strategies and impacts vary considerably with factors such as the fisherman’s age, initial quota allocation, level of debt, and presence of a second earner in the household. We develop a descriptive theory that characterizes actual choices being made currently by New England fishermen, with the goal of improving the ability to predict responses to future regulatory changes. Decision-making processes appear to differ from typical economic models used to analyze proposed regulatory actions. A richer understanding of these decision-making processes will lead to improved analysis of regulatory impacts.