A year after strict federal rules took effect to limit the catch of local fishermen, the nation’s top fisheries regulator testified at a congressional hearing on Beacon Hill yesterday that fish stocks are rebounding after years of decline and that the economically depressed fishing industry is showing signs of a comeback.
But local members of Congress who attended the hearing blamed the regulations for increasing the hardships of Massachusetts fishermen and urged the federal government to modify the requirements and do more to help those who can no longer afford to go to sea.
In her testimony, Jane Lubchenco, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator, said: “Glimmers of hope are now finally emerging in the fishery after decades of problems. I believe we’re beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a very long tunnel.’’
As signs of progress in an industry that supports some 77,000 jobs in Massachusetts, Lubchenco told the packed State House hearing that last year fishermen fished within the requirements of 18 of the 20 stocks with catch limits. She said because of years of effort to replenish the region’s fish, catch levels this year increased for 12 of 20 groundfish, bottom-dwelling fish such as cod and flounder.
She said new policies have enabled local fishermen “to fish smarter by more effectively avoiding weaker stocks and by capturing a higher percentage of the allowable catch.’’
Lubchenco also said they are catching higher-value fish and throwing less of their catch overboard, citing as an example Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, 9 percent of which were discarded in 2010, compared with 31 percent in 2009.
“Adhering to catch limits and reducing discards will hasten rebuilding, yielding increased quotas more quickly,’’ she said.
Under the new system, most fishermen are divided into groups called sectors, which are given a share of the annual quota of bottom-dwelling fish. That quota is then divided among the fishermen.
The rules were approved by the New England Fishery Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service to help fishermen cope with years of cuts in fish catches, intended to blunt the damage of overfishing.
Previous policies had attempted to control overfishing by limiting the number of days fishermen could cast their nets. The sector approach was meant to give fishing communities more flexibility, allowing, for example, fishermen to lease their allotments to others while stocks recovered enough for them to afford to go to sea.
Lubchenco cited successes such as a group of small boat fisherman in Rhode Island marketing their catch directly to restaurants. She said New England fishermen earned 16 percent more per pound of groundfish this year than last year; those in Portland, Maine, earned 25 percent more in revenues; and those in New Bedford saw their revenue increase by more than 20 percent.