Fisheries in Maine

Info on Aquaculture

Humanity depends for its survival on the healthy functioning of the planet's ecosystems. The oceans are the origin of life on earth and are home to much of the earth's rich evolutionary heritage of life forms and species. The oceans sustain us, but we are not sustaining them. The diversity of life in the world's oceans is being dramatically altered by the excessive exploitation of fish, and other marine species. Most commercially targeted fish populations and many associated marine species are in decline or even threatened by extinction. In addition, marine and coastal ecosystems, including habitats vitally important for fish breeding and rearing, are being rapidly degraded.

According to the National Fisheries Institute, we spend about $50 billion on fish and shellfish a year, consuming nearly 15 pounds of the marine resource per person annually. Seventy percent of the world's most valuable fisheries, and 11 of 15 major fishing grounds, are either overfished or fished to the limit according to the United Nations. World catch reached 90 million tons in 1997 (up from just 19 million in 1950) and from this harvest another 30 million tons of sharks and other "non-target" species are annually thrown back overboard, dead or dying, as inadvertent "bycatch." As a result, 34 percent of all fish species are vulnerable to or in immediate danger of extinction.

In Maine, all fisheries are on the decline except for lobster. Despite increases in lobstering, the population of Maine lobster are increasing. Atlantic Salmon are endangered, and farmed salmon are compromising the population of native salmon. Many of Maine's rivers are dammed up, so the poor salmon have nowhere to spawn. Atlantic Cod, despite their big name in the east, are on the verge of being endangered.

The idea of individual fishing quotas (IFQs) that parcel out a share of the annual catch to specific permit-holders has appeared recently in Maine but is not yet implemented. While the strategy may not be appropriate for all fisheries, it is an important tool that can help resource managers ensure that there is a fishing industry in Maine for years to come.

In the absence of IFQs, fishermen have faced incredibly complex rules regarding days at sea, gear, bycatch and closed areas. They have competed against each other to land what they can before the fishery is closed due to limits on annual catch. These regulations lead to overfishing and waste, and force fishermen to take more chances at sea by delaying maintenance and foregoing repairs.

Fishermen worry that big corporations will buy all the IFQs, bidding up permit prices so high that the traditional owner-operator can't afford to fish. This has happened in other parts of the country where the permit system has been introduced and is cause for concern.