New Bedford MA Commercial Fishing Business Summit

Instead of mostly hoping for miracles to happen in the federal regulatory system, New England fishermen can learn to work that same system to their advantage. The Port of New Bedford Business Alliance is organizing a business summit for that purpose.

Recent reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Act will order much tighter constraints based on strict science within less than three years. The argument that better science must come first is gone. Although new resource management and allocation schemes politically may conclude in a catch share program that incorporates both a point system and area management mechanism, the bottom line is that more severe catch limits still will be enforced. Traditional fishermen will be even more hard pressed to earn a living. More progressive fishermen know that – with change also comes opportunity.

The Alliance is working hard to conduct a comprehensive business summit of outside expertise to discuss and address opportunities germane to the future business needs and concerns of the port’s commercial fishing fleet, especially over the next three years when federal constraints hit in full force. To target issues of most common interest, we are requesting the opinions of local fishermen.

A recently published article (attached) by Gene Soccolich, strategic advisor to the Alliance, first recommended a business summit here in New Bedford on issues and potential opportunities which included:

Vessel buyout prospects to help clarify decisions for individual fishing vessel owners.
Parameters for establishing New Bedford Groundfishing a/o Scalloper Cooperatives.
Potential transition into the growing offshore aquaculture sector.
Financial aide and assistance to relieve the economic impacts imposed by federal regulations and to prime the pump of progressively structured fishing businesses.

Experts and organizers on these topics from around the world already have been researched and identified. Upon establishing a consensus on the interests from a cross cut of the port’s vessel owners, a steering committee would be formed to determine actual content of the summit to which owners of all fishing vessels and shore-side businesses would be invited.

Please print out and complete the short form (PDF) , and either return it to Fred Osborn or e-mail your answers to gene@portnewbedford.org. Be smart - take action - join us. Thank you.