IV. Secondary Ports Go to map of ports

A. Secondary Ports in Maine: Stonington and Down East (Table 18)

B. Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Southern Maine Ports

C. Provincetown, Massachusetts

D. Newport, Rhode Island

E. Montauk, New York

F. Cape May, New Jersey and Ocean City, Maryland

G. Southern Range: Hampton Roads/Newport News, VA, and Wanchese, NC



A. Secondary Ports in Maine: Stonington and Down East

We noted earlier that one of the principal changes that occurred in the Maine MGF following the opening of the PFE was the consolidation of the fleet around Portland between 1987 and today. This has been paralleled by a steady decline in the number of fishers engaged in gillnetting for groundfish and, among those who continue to groundfish, a decline in the amount of fishing effort individual fishers devote to ground fishing. The smaller ports north and east of Portland are at once more dependent on fishing for the overall health of the community and less dependent specifically on ground fishing than fishers in and around Portland. Most of the ports of the Down East region of Maine are physically isolated, located along or at the ends of long dead end roads and more easily accessible by water than by land.

Tourist infrastructures remain at incipient levels of development, unlike the small coastal communities south of Portland, and local economic alternatives remain confined to forestry and fishing and the services that supply these industries and those employed in these industries. Generally, tourist infrastructure consists of a handful of bed-and-breakfast establishments, a few restaurants, an art gallery here and there, and one or two gift shops and book stores. Constraints to developing tourism derive from ecological and cultural sources. Many of these towns have been well integrated into local forest and rocky environments, with little space available for developing tourism further without destroying the very aesthetics that attract tourists to these coastal towns in the first place.

Many long-time residents of coastal towns, particularly those in the fishing industry, oppose tourism on the grounds that real estate development competes with fishing for coastal access and increases the volume of foot traffic along the waterfront. Those who suggest tourism as an alternative to commercial fishing, in any case, ignore several features of tourist development. The just noted competition between commercial and recreational uses of the coast predisposes commercial fishers against moving into the leisure sector; indeed, established social ties to the leisure sector, strengthened by the solidarity that has emerged from past conflicts with commercial fishers, may prevent commercial fishers from the support they require to establish tourist-related businesses. Further, tourist development often quite rapidly begins duplicating services. Finally, most of the jobs in tourism for those who do not own businesses are part-time and low-wage jobs.

Most coastal Maine fishing communities are similar in appearance. They range in size from under 1,000 to around 5,000, although most have populations of under 1,500. Stonington, for example, has a population of around 700, at least 40 percent of whom are either lobstermen or other kind of fishers (locals estimated a lobstering population of 300), and most of the remaining year-round residents engaged in services that cater to fishers. During the summer months, of course, populations in most of these coastal towns increase with seasonal residents (Acheson 1987). Increases in summer time activity coincide with increased commercial fishing and an increase in employment. Figures compiled by the Maine Department of Labor, for example, find that unemployment rates in these regions drop to their lowest levels, usually, during the months of July and August:

These figures show us, first, that some of these coastal regions, particularly those further from Portland (Jonesport and Machias) experience relatively high rates of unemployment even during the summer months. This indicates the few alternative employment opportunities outside those tied to forestry and fishing, both predominantly summertime operations.

Often hilly, neighborhoods of coastal Maine towns consist of small frame homes, and very occasionally a trailer or two, interspersed among colonial mansions and larger homes. These neighborhoods seem to slope down to the waterfronts, where the most dense clusters of businesses and houses stand. Immediately upon entering a coastal town you perceive fishing iconography: ancient wooden captains' steering wheels and capstans, lobster pots, statues of lobsters and plaques with mounted cod outside municipal offices. Nets, buoys, lobster traps and vessels clutter the yards of nearly every house. Approaching the harbor, the orientation of the townfolk toward water becomes especially obvious. Trap and net manufacturers, marine supply stores, fishing cooperatives and marketing operations compete for shoreline with whale-watching firms and transport vessels. Usually one or more municipal piers or private docks extend out into the water, rigged with fish and shellfish buying facilities that are barnlike in appearance. Perpendicular to the main length of the pier are often smaller lengths of floating piers for tying up the 14' to 20' crafts that fishers use to move between land and their fishing vessels; the fishing vessels themselves are moored, offshore, at moorings throughout the harbor.

The ports east and north of Ellsworth and Bar Harbor, including Winter Harbor, Jonesport, and Machiasport, specialize in lobster, sea urchins, and winter dragging for scallops; the infrastructure is designed to land these species. Vessels have been outfitted with ironwork triangles to handle winches for hauling lobster traps or for the scallop rigs. Sea urchins, a relatively new fishery, are harvested primarily by divers, and a few gillnetters in each of these communities land flounder and other groundfish during the summer. Their numbers are dwindling. Licensing data becomes dated relatively quickly, even after three or four years; the Maine Marine Patrolman based outside Ellsworth said, "It [the fishery] changes every year."

This is a small, rambling community, with a firm beach of stone pebbles and a sheltered harbor where several of the lobstermen store and launch their boats. It is a deep water port that currently aids the salmon farming and processing in town. A single factory operates through most of the year, providing a low level of employment to the town. There is little other industry beyond this.

This port is dispersed and spread out, with smaller boats that are trailered behind pick-up trucks and stored primarily at the fishers' homes. The pots are also stored at the homes of the fishers, unlike the other ports, where pots are clustered at cooperatives and fish dealers. Most of the fishing vessels are small, for targeting lobster, generally under or around 45' in length.

Two lobster fishers at Buck's Harbor, just east or south of Machiasport, said that there were a few gillnetters in this area and in Jonesport during the summer, but that the only dragger during the winter usually targeted scallops. There is no large ground fishing fleet in this area.

Seemingly more densely populated than Machiasport, this port receives shelter, in part, from Beals Island. This is a fairly densely populated hamlet, with several sheltered facilities, including a long jetty. We visited on a February day and counted 38 boats moored out in the water, away from shore, between a large metal structure and the pier. Another 16 and another 5 in other places inside the harbor. There are at least four sheltered areas with clusters of boats.

Across from Jonesport, connected to the main point by a short bridge, is Beals Island--clearly a lobstering island, with lots of traps, a couple of boat builders, and a few other marine-related businesses, including the following:

At a fishing cooperative four fishers unloading sea urchins reported that there were, perhaps, six gillnetters in this area, but that most of the gillnetters had been driven into other fisheries, principally scalloping and diving for urchins, because of marine mammal legislation.

Close to Acadia National Park, this community contains much more tourism infrastructure than the other ports, yet it was here that there was a recent controversy surrounding a whale watching firm: later, a Portland told us that in this case it was more of an access issue, that there was much vehement opposition to the whale watching coming in because they would take up too much of already precious harbor space. Conflicts such as this, of course, would hinder an easy transition into tourism.

Two fishers at a scallop/ lobster buying station reported that there was only one fish dragger left in Southwest Harbor and another in nearby Bar Harbor. Both groundfish from medium sized vessels. Most of the fishers here rely on summer lobstering and winter scalloping. Scalloping season begins in November and runs through April; lobstering begins in March or so, and runs through to November. Fishers can catch lobster during the winter, but run the risk of having their traps dragged up by scallopers. This prevents lobstering except in areas where scallops will not drag because the substrates would damage their nets. Dealers here reported that those fished for lobster during the winter time placed traps on rocky ledges, where scallopers won't drag.

The vessels that do drag for fish around here are not going as far as Georges Banks; they are more closer to shore draggers. The fisher interviewed here, as in other ports, told us that the regulations had already dismantled much of the gillnetting portion of the groundfish fleet, and they had switched to other fisheries. One of these, of course, was sea urchins. In particular, lobstermen who used to rig their boats with "gallows," a rig that could make a lobster vessel a dragger, now have gotten into diving (dry suits, mainly) for urchins. They only drag for urchins where tides are too strong to dive, but this is viewed as ecologically destructive.

Of all the ports visited between Machiasport and Rockland, the most obvious gillnetter's harbor was Stonington. In Stonington live the past and current presidents of the Maine Gillnetters' Association, and the port is home to Commercial Fisheries News, a monthly publication dedicated to fishing issues. Its former editor is currently the state Commissioner of Marine Fisheries. The port is a principal lobster landing center with some scallopers, urchin divers, and ground fishers who utilize gillnets. No big rollers with nets adorn boats in Stonington's harbor, but several gillnets remain piled on a dock in the center of town. Physically, Stonington sits at the end of a long dead-end road. The village slopes downward to cradle the harbor. Three large piers--one a recently built public pier for off-loading fish--jut out into the harbor and marine related businesses cluster at the land ends of these docks. There are some indications that the port has been shifting away from its emphasis on fishing, yet without any clear direction as to what, exactly, will take fishing's place. According to a local fisher, in recent years the port has lost a hardware store, a clothing store, a drug store, and two welders, which were replaced by two art galleries and two souvenir shops.

The groundfishers of Stonington have already suffered severely from regulatory changes associated with Amendments # 5 and # 7, as well as marine mammal legislation issues. Changes talking place over the past few years chronicle a fleet that has not only shrunk in size but has struggled with alternative fisheries, attempting to move into the already crowded lobster industry in particular as well as other fisheries such as tuna and urchin diving. Before 1995, there were seven or eight draggers operating in Stonington and another five operating in nearby Bar Harbor, with upwards of 42 gillnetters between Stonington and Machiasport. Over the past two seasons, however, these figures have fallen to one dragger operating out of Stonington, along with 18 gillnetters.

Gillnetting for groundfish used to be primarily a summertime activity, lasting from May to October and thus overlapping with the lobster season. Typically, the fishers would leave the port in the evening, set their nets between midnight and 2:00 am, and pull them up the following evening around the same time. They typically operated from 30' to 40' vessels, using 3- to 4-man crews. As in Gloucester, crew sizes have shrunk with the restrictions on times and areas, and crews now are more likely to be 3 than 4. During the winter, gillnetters, traditionally, would scallop or shrimp, but the bulk of their income came from groundfish.

As in other ports, Stonington fishers are having trouble recruiting crew who are willing to fish day in, day out, through the heavy fishing season. Only the lobster fishery is reproducing itself at a healthy pace, with ground fishing crew working a few days at a time and then laying off after being paid, unwilling to take the business seriously because of negative perceptions concerning its future.

Marketing of fish is conducted at the municipal pier, but is dominated by two men, one who buys and another who trucks the catch to more distant markets. According to a local fisher's wife, all of the fish landed in Stonington is trucked to Nagel's Seafood in Boston. Because of infrastructure limitations--the dead-end road mentioned earlier--locals view marketing as a primary problem.

In adjusting to changes, fishers have moved into the winter urchin fishery as well as experimented with other fisheries. There are few alternative occupations in a place like Stonington outside of fishing, and the retraining center established there has toyed with aquaculture and other alternatives without much success. Because of concerns about crowding in the lobster industry, groundfishers fear that they will not have the history to enter the lobster industry, especially given recent zoning proposals before Maine lobstermen. This model, currently being considered for the lobster industry, may well serve as a model for community based fishery management in other fisheries (James A. Wilson -- Univ. of Maine, personal communication). It consists of the following:

  1. First, Maine recognizes regional distinctions between fisheries in state waters based on historical and ecological characteristics. These regions reflect groups of fishers who are similarly placed with regard to their interactions with the marine resources. That is, they practice similar mixes of gears and target species and have, historically, interacted with fishers from other communities within the zones, to define, protect, and defend their territories (Acheson 1987).



  2. Maine recognizes five zones. Each of these zones has its own regional council who are elected for three-year, staggered terms through a process that involves: a) identifying stakeholders with current licensing data; b) voting in annual elections. The number of council members varies by the size of the zone, with council members representing 100 or fewer license holders.



  3. Each regional council develops proposals for changes in fishing rules which are then voted on by all fishers in the zone. Changing any fishing rule requires that two-thirds of region's fishers agree on the change. Rules that are decided upon by regional councils include those governing numbers and types of gear and time regulations (seasons, numbers of days one can fish, etc.). The zone model allows for sub-zones to exist within zones for finer regulations that recognize more localized circumstances.



  4. Perhaps most important, the Maine model is one of participatory co-management, with state entities--specifically, the Marine Fisheries Commission and the Department of Marine Resources--and fishing interests coming together to develop proposals for changes in fishing regulations. This consists, essentially, of a "bottom-up" meets "top-down" model in which lines of communication between the state and fishing groups, and among fishing groups, have become institutionalized.


  5. Fishers can fish in more than one zone, but must abide by the most restrictive zone's regulations. This solves problems of fishers from different communities coming into distant waters with gears and fishing methods that local fishers deem destructive to the resource.



Because these councils, if instituted, will establish terms of fishing in each zone, Stonington groundfishers fear that they may be discriminated against when attempting to apply for lobstering licenses or to increase their lobstering efforts. In any case, the proposed establishment of zones and regional councils is an indication that entry into the lobstering industry, historically highly territorial, will be even more difficult in the future.



B. Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Southern Maine Ports

Despite its seemingly ideal location between the southern coast of Maine and Gloucester, Portsmouth is neither a large MGF port nor a great center of commercial fishing activity. Much of the city's commercial fishing activity is based across the river from Portsmouth, in Kittery, Maine, and consists primarily of lobster vessels. Development in Portsmouth has emphasized commercial uses of the port that do not necessarily involve commercial fishing, including shipbuilding and international trade. Along its waterfront are several restaurants and historic monuments that reveal a recent emphasis on tourism--particularly heritage tourism--but a large commercial fleet with active off-loading facilities is not prominent in these activities. Our efforts to survey seafood dealers and processors in Portsmouth about groundfishing met with little interest and less success, indicating that the MGF has no substantial presence there.

Portsmouth and the ports between Portland and Portsmouth, along the southern coast of Maine, are more obviously centers of tourist development than centers of commercial fishing. Ports such as Ogunquit and Kennebunkport still maintain their lobster fleets as essential to their character, but those few groundfishers who moor their vessels among the smaller vessels land their fish primarily in Portland, at the display auction, as was discussed in detail in the section on Portland.



C. Provincetown, Massachusetts

Provincetown (known by locals as "P'Town") is a historic port with the second deepest harbor in the United States. Unlike Point Judith, the fishing fleet of P'Town has concentrated its efforts on dragging, and has not significantly diversified into other fisheries. The majority of the fleet are eastern otter trawlers, complemented by a small fleet of inshore angling vessels. A total of 18 vessels were counted at the docks, with their numbers equally divided between steel and wooden hull vessels.

The importance of fishing to historic P'Town is reflected in murals in the town hall showing fishers bringing in the catch. Provincetown once had a booming fleet that took advantage of its proximity to local fishing grounds to catch large quantities of groundfish. Fish were processed and shipped to Boston and other markets, and a thriving processing sector dominated the local docks. About 15 years ago, local respondents report that the industry began to experience a downturn as nearby fish stocks were depleted and area closures such as Stellwagen Bank limited the opportunities to fish near shore.

Another disadvantage of P'Town is its geographic location. Although it has the second deepest natural harbor in the world, being at the northernmost tip of Cape Cod, its distance from major fish markets has made it difficult to compete with ports having better access to ground transportation such as New Bedford and Gloucester. In the summer time, the one road going into an out of P'Town on Cape Cod is regularly clogged with tourist vehicles on their way to visiting the beaches or traveling to the art and tourists shops that have come to dominant the P'Town economic landscape. In the winter time, bad storms can close down the one road making regular access difficult. Processing plants closed down and the traditional fishing fleet aged while gentrification drove the economy towards tourism:

Original fishers of P'Town were English and Scottish immigrants, eventually replaced by Portuguese immigrants who came to dominate the fishing industry. Extended Portuguese families worked in occupational enclaves based on 6-7 person crews. They didn't significantly diversify their economic activities and thus remained somewhat culturally and linguistically isolated from other residents. Migration between P'Town and Portugal, as with the fishers in New Bedford, was common. Many of the more successful fishers left P'Town over the last 25 years to join the fleet in New Bedford. They were replaced by newer immigrants who would take over aging vessels and "have a go at it." However, others stayed and have fished out of P'Town for up to 40 years (key respondent, elder fisher). Because of the outmigration of highliners, and the ethnic insularity of the fleet, there was really no impetus (or significant capital) to diversify fishing strategies (key respondent). Those coming into the fishery took up with what was available, and had little motivation to change.

The town pier has two large docks that extend for approximately 300 yards. The construction is wood and cement and is sturdy enough for 18-wheeler truck traffic. At the end of the pier are two fish suppliers: Oceanic Seafood and Whaling City Seafoods. The docks are in good condition, and the Chamber of Commerce has been actively promoting the quality of the harbor for berthing of large offshore (foreign) vessels. The end of the pier is dominated by restaurants and local shops, but there is little evidence of businesses dependent on the fishing industry.

Provincetown has the most dilapidated fleet of any MGF port. Most of the vessels observed (13 out of 18) were old eastern rigged otter trawlers. Half of the fleet were of wood construction, while the other half consisted of rusty steel vessels. The fleet is a combination of scallopers and otter trawls ranging from 45 to 68 feet in length. The otter trawlers have from 2-6 crew, while the scallopers have crews up to seven (NMFS regulations prohibit more than seven crew members on scallopers). The isolation of Provincetown insures that all fishing families live in local residences. Some of these families are having difficulties with their mortgages as they struggle to survive in the fishery. As in New Bedford, some of those in economic stress have returned to Portugal. The condition of the fleet is summed up by a welder who has worked on them for many years:

The age and condition of the vessels is the primary difficulty facing local fishers. Over 95% of vessels have no insurance and many are unsafe to be one the water (key respondent, Assistant Harbor Master). Over the last five years the Assistant Harbor Master claims many vessels have sunk, some of them right at the dock. Sunken dockside derelicts have been refloated and reused if not sold outright. Of 28 draggers/scalloper vessels on the Harbor Master list, three have been sold and one is up for sale. Because fishing has been so poor, and regulations so restrictive, fishers can only afford to fix the most pressing repairs, ignoring others which could be life-threatening on an extended fishing expedition. The condition of the fleet has thus cut into the trawl time of the more problematic vessels. Captains are afraid to venture far from shore for extended periods because of the threat of sinking.

The nearest fishing ground is Stellwagen Bank*, which has been "fished out" for years. Also, the Provincetown fleet must compete for Stellwagen fish with the North shore fleets of Boston and Gloucester. This competition forced P'town vessels further and further off shore, but because of the continuing declining condition of the vessels, they can no longer risk going far, especially in marginal weather.

* Note by Clay: For information on the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, see http://www.nos.noaa.gov/ocrm/nmsp/nmsstellwagenbank.html

Besides the 28 larger listed vessels, there are 19 smaller jig boats. Of these, 15 are longliners, two gillnetters, and two lobsterpot fishing. Presently, only 17 of the 28 vessels are in working condition. The smaller boats are in better financial shape, since they are less costly, but also since they are not expected to provide direct support for more than 1-2 fishers and their families. However, all vessels and fishing families are marginalized in a fishing community that is experiencing the worst possible combination of marketing, fish stock, and production capital losses. P'town is the epitome of what can go wrong in a port highly reliant on the MGF.

Another issue which may further impede the viability of fishing is the construction of a sewage outfall pipe from Boston's new sewage treatment plant. The outfall pipe carries fresh water and dumps it onto Stellwagen Bank. Any hopes of rebuilding a fish or scallop stock there will be lost once the pipe is operational. One fisher of 40 years experience was very encouraged by the recent comeback of scallops on the Bank, as well as the recuperation of the local lobster population, which serves as a secondary catch on draggers. His assessment of the outfall pipe:

The major problem of the port is unemployment and underemployment of former fishers. Day-to day survival is a struggle as fishers and their families cope with declining income (or no income) and increasing uncertainty because of fishery restrictions such as Amendment # 7. However, given the fishing and fleet conditions, restrictions on days at sea are less of a problem now than just getting out to sea at all.

One possible avenue for fishers to improve their economic condition is through the retraining programs being offered by the Fishing Family Assistance Center. The optimistic motto of the Center is:"Serving fisherfolks, their families, and related industry workers adjusting to changes within the fishing industry on Cape Cod, the Islands and nearby region."

The Chapter on Gloucester discusses critical issues that include the training centers on Cape Cod. In P'town, the primary barriers to the success of the program are as follows:

Participation in retaining has been scarce, and although the P'town retraining center could not give exact figures, few fishers are noted to have been retrained, with the majority of those taking advantage of the program being the wives of fishers. Opportunity issues exist even for the wives of fishers who seek retraining. As one center worker expressed, "how many cosmetologists can you have in one town anyway?" A fisher's wife active n the community who works at the Chamber of Commerce describes the situation as grim:

D. Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a historical port dedicated to tourism and recreational boating but with a long and persistent commercial fishing presence. Before the development of the docking facilities at Point Judith, Newport was the center for fishing and shipping in the state. In 1971, 57 percent of all Rhode Island commercial fisheries landings were in Newport, but Point Judith surpassed Newport in importance by 1973, and now is the dominant commercial port in the state.

Tourism in Newport started as far back as the 1700s. Visitors included southern plantation owners who stayed in Newport to escape the heat of the summer. By the 1830s, tourist hotels began to dominate the shore side landscape. The famous "cottages" of Newport where built by industrialists seeking to outdo each other in displays of ostentatiousness. The present tourist economy is centered on year round activities with the highlights being summer and sailing events. The Americas Cup races are regularly held in the area, attesting to the importance of the pleasure boating industry.

Besides tourism, the East Bay Navy base has a major economic impact in the area. The base employees thousands of local civilians in service roles. The service industry also caters to a large retirement community. Many naval personnel familiar with the area from periods at the local War College or at the command schools select Newport for retirement. They bring money into the community as retirement pensions and contribute to the support of many service-oriented businesses as significant consumers.

The history of the fishery and its present state up to 1981 have been thoroughly described by Bort (1981). We give an overview of the fishing history and infrastructure here, and then focus on the fishery as it now exists.

Fishing has always been an integral part of the local economy, although not of the stature of tourism and other components. It does not make much sense to talk of the degree of community "dependency" on fishing in Newport, for the existing 'community' could do quite well if commercial fishing disappeared altogether. A different perspective is to think of the fishing "community" as a regional contributor to the commerce of the groundfish fishery, and as a means of providing support to approximately 200 families with a sustainable livelihood while they contribute a high-quality food product to the commerce of the region and nation.

During the 1700s to early 1800s, fishing was an important part of the local economy. Historical records mention fish drying stations and fisheries. The quantities of fish are not mentioned, and fisheries as an activity declined by the 1700s with the rapid development of Newport as a slave trading and shipping center.

Whaling was practiced for several decades in the 1770s, but was never as important as it was in ports such as New Bedford and Nantucket. By 1785, the whaling fleet consisted of 50 craft. However, by the late 1850s, most of the craft had either moved to New Bedford or entered other pursuits (Field 1902: 482-483).

The period from 1800 to 1930 saw the development of the indigenous (bay and inshore) fleet. Fishing effort was concentrated on groundfish stocks that could be reached in a day, fished, and then landed on the dock. Most fish, with the exception of menhaden, were taken in staked and floating fish traps and weirs. This was also the period when industrial fish was a major component of the economy. For example, in 1889 in Newport and other Rhode Island ports, fish reduction plants for menhaden, and fish drying operations for cod and other groundfish processed 127 million pounds of fish, 89 percent of which were menhaden (Olsen and Stevenson 1975:53). This fishery collapsed in the 1930s, and the fishery transitioned towards groundfish trawling. During the 1920s, marine diesel engines effectively extended the range and fishing time of commercial groundfishing vessels using otter trawls.

Newport has one of the best natural harbors on the Northeast. It provides excellent protection from rough weather, and is deep enough to provide berthing for US naval vessels. There is only one wharf area that is presently used by fishers. It is leased by the state to the Newport Shipyard Company. This stone filled wharf is adequate to service the 20 vessels that regularly land groundfish in Newport. In 1981, major fish buyers included Anthony's Seafood, Aquidnick Lobster Company, and Parascandolo and Sons. Anthony's is no longer in business, and Parascandolo markets all groundfish landings that come into Newport. Fish are not sold or processed locally, but ice packed in trucks to Boston, New York, New Bedford, and markets south. Decisions are made on where to ship the fish based on equitable pricing and demand. Ice is supplied to these firms by the Eastern Ice Company located in Newport. The Tallman and Mack Company, a private firm reported by Bort (1981) to operate fish traps between April and November out of Newport, is no longer in business.

Newport's groundfish fleet has dramatically declined over the last twenty years. The decline has been spurred by increasing property values restricting fishing industry infrastructure and competition with recreational vessels constricting wharf space. No new boats or new shore side fishing businesses have come into the fishery in the last twenty years. The local waters of Narragansett Bay are overfished, and nearshore grounds off the coast and nearby Block Island have experienced significant declines in groundfish. Factors forcing a decline in groundfishing are not recent, but has been ongoing for some time. In 1981, Bort writes:

Bort was correct in this prediction. There is still a degree of prejudice by the Newport community against commercial fishers (key respondent, Office of the Harbor Master), and the fleet has declined dramatically. In 1977, 164 boats made landings in Newport. Of these 49 were from Newport, 45 from New Bedford, and the remainder from as far north as Gloucester and as far south as Virginia (William Murphy, National Marine Fisheries Service , Newport, RI). In 1978, only 91 of these vessels had returned to Newport.

In 1996, the number of MGF permits held by Newport commercial vessels was 16, with a total of only 20 vessels landing groundfish in the port. Of these, only 2 fished in the bay, and another 2 fished in nearshore waters, with the remainder fishing 7-10 day trips on grounds north and south of Rhode Island. Using the 1981 figure of 91 vessels as a benchmark, this represents a 78% decline in commercial fishing vessels landing in Newport over a fifteen year period. Similar declines have been reported in Gloucester and New Bedford.

The greatest decline has been in the indigenous, or bay and inshore fleet. After WWII, the indigenous Newport fleet consisted of 20 vessels. In 1981, this number was down to only eight, and in 1996, only four. Declines in nearshore stocks, pollution impacts, competition with stationary gear, and area closures have made inshore groundfishing more difficult. Overall, the Newport fleet is more dependent proportionately on groundfish than the more diversified fleet fishing out of Point Judith. All of the vessels are essentially groundfish fishing, with some having the capacity and permits to fish squid (Loligo) as needed in order to maximize the benefit of days at sea limits.

Despite these difficulties, local fishers and fish marketers feel that the remaining fleet represents a stabilized situation:

The number of fishers is estimated at 4 crew per boat, with 20 boats, giving a total captain and crew population of approximately 80 fishers. The local groundfish marketer, Parascandalo, employees 15 workers in the plant and 4. The operation uses twelve 18-wheelers plus five straight bed trucks. The total number of groudfish fishers and immediate support personnel comes to approximately 100 individuals and their families. This is comparable with the estimated numbers and fleet size for Montauk, NY, which had 24 vessels in operation and an estimated 100 families dependent on the industry. Unlike Montauk, with 76 MGF permits in port, there is a close match in Newport between the number of MGF permits (16) and the number of vessels that land groundfish at the port (20).

Despite the emphasis on tourism, and a noticeable decline in the commercial fishing presence, the 20 vessels of the groundfishing fleet of Newport are in good condition, and "holding their own' in this period of increasing regulation of the MGF. However, as in other ports, it does not appear that the social, economic, and cultural capital which comprise the fishery are being reproduced. MGF permit holders in Newport will eventually have to make the decision to retire their permits to or pass them on to others as vessels age and new recruits do not take up the occupation (a decline in the social yield). The questions that remains for Newport are (1) will the community support the presence of a new generation of fishers, (2)will a support infrastructure survive to allow them to fish, and (3)will anyone be interested in joining a profession that is both dangerous and increasingly economically risky?



E. Montauk, New York

Montauk is an isolated community at the tip of Long Island, New York. It has no major light industry or other capital generation sources besides commercial and recreational fishing and related tourist activity. Thus, we classify it as Small Scale NRC. Unlike Gloucester, Montauk has never had a large commercial infrastructure dedicated to ground fishing. It is given special consideration here because the high number of reported MGF permits gave investigators the initial impression it represented a major groundfishing port.

In Montauk, baymen originally fished for subsistence and barter using weirs and inshore seine nets. The vessel of choice was the piragua, a small sail- powered craft for fishing in nearshore bays and inlets. Shellfish fishing was also important and remains a seasonal summer activity. Although baymen have disappeared in Montauk, some still follow this simple lifestyle in nearby Shelter Island, Snug Harbor and Freeport.

Shore seining for menhaden ("bunkers") was an early commercial activity that supported over thirty "seine gangs" in the early 1800s. Shore gangs were replaced at the turn of the century by menhaden steamers using haul seines. Women used to play an important part in the fishery by helping out with the beach (seining for alewives). They also worked in marketing and processing of bunkers. Bunker factories made millions for their owners, and fish were converted into fish meal, fertilizer, and oil. Local menhaden stocks were eventually depleted, and the bunker industry lasted until 1968 when the last fish factory--the Promise Land, closed.

Despite the closure of the bunker factories and a small groundfish fleet, Montauk remains New York state's most important commercial fishing port. In 1993, offshore draggers harvested about 20 percent of all whiting landed by New England and Mid-Atlantic fishers (Drummond 1995). A large portion of the catch, which also includes 10 percent of the illex and loligo squid landings in the Northeast, is sold for export.

Commercial and recreational fishing are the primary activities in Montauk, with the community business sector being geared to servicing these two fishing sectors. The summer season is also important for tourists, and summer rates for hotels and other seasonal housing reflect this. The average age for residents of Montauk is 37.9, while the number of people per square mile is 172.1. The average 1990 income was as follows:

As of February 1996 the total population of Montauk was 3,001 (Chamber of Commerce). Census Bureau data give a total 1990 population of 2,813. Of these, 798 claim Irish ancestry, with other dominant groups being German (640), Italian (408), English (252), Polish (174), Russian (158), and Yugoslavian (97). There were 1,673 individuals employed over the age of 16.

There are approximately 290 residents listed in the Census Bureau report that list their occupation as "fishing". A local community leader in the recreational sector estimated that 100 resident families make their living in recreational fishing services. With 24 estimated commercial vessels averaging three crew each, there are approximately 72 families that are directly dependent on the production side of commercial fishing. This does not include those in the processing, transportation, and infrastructure support sector (e.g., fish market owners/operators, dock workers, welders, fish processors, carpenters).

The winter community is small and insular, consisting of commercial fishers and their families, small businesses, and local charter boat owners/operators. Some of the recreational fishers will overwinter in Montauk or nearby East Hampton. Many others will drydock their vessels and spend the winter months elsewhere. The height of the fishing season begins around mid-March after Saint Patrick's Day, which is marked by a celebration of the rites of spring and the renewal of fishing.

Fishing is most active June to September, and least active December to February. The winter fishery targets tilefish, pollock and cod along the shelf. In the summer, a large charter boat fleet goes after tuna. Many charter boat owners/operators also hold groundfish permits. A key respondent explained that this allows them to take groundfish for personal use and for customers when tuna is scarce. Small landings of groundfish are sold to local restaurants or used for subsistence purposes.

Targeted groundfish include summer flounder (fluke), cod, pollock, and yellowtail flounder. A summer fishery for yellowfin, bluefin, and big eye tuna is conducted by a day and charter boat fleet. The importance of the recreational sector has been steadily growing as recreational fishing pressure increases and as some commercial fishers convert their boats for charter fishing and whale watching.

Montauk is also home of a productive tilefish fleet. Tilefish are caught during the fall and winter months by longline in deep water at the edge of the continental shelf. Montauk led the Northeast in tilefish landings in 1993 with 2,200,000 lbs valued at $2.75 million. Tilefish are sold in restaurants in New York or bought by the Japanese to make sashimi. One tilefish operation consisted of three boats owned by two brothers. Each boat had two crews of three deckhands and a captain. They would fish the deep water valleys off of New Jersey for ten days, return, and rotate out with another crew.

The docks are a couple of miles away from the town's main street. Around the docks are a number of associated industries such as restaurants, fish markets and marinas, with most of these businesses closed for the winter season. There are four marinas, three party boats and eight charter boats with posted telephone numbers at the Chamber of Commerce. Marinas which cater to the recreational sector include the Montauk Marine Basin, the Montauk Yacht Club, Uihlien's Marina and Boat Rental, and West Lake Fishing Lodge. Commercial vessels are located at two city docks opposite each other on the harbor. One is located near two fish markets and one next to the Coast Guard station.

Most of Montauk's fish are packed out at four commercial facilities: Inlet Seafood, a fishing cooperative; Gosman's Dock; Montauk Fish Dock; and Deep Water Seafood. Except for Inlet Seafood, which opens after Saint Patrick's Day for the spring-summer season, there is little local processing and sale of fish. Some fish does go to local restaurants during the summer.

The commercial catch is shipped to Fulton's Fish Market in New York City. Fish are generally shipped whole frozen. In the past, there have been problems with the legitimacy of the market. Although a precise number of boxes (of fish) were sent to Fulton, Fulton claimed to receive a lesser amount in many instances. One key respondent noted: "those practices have changed since the government take-over of the market." There are few marketing alternatives for fishers, and Fulton's continues to be the primary destination.

Areas previously dominated by baiting shanties near the state docks are taken over by whale watching and charter boat operations. Baiting longlines is now carried out on board by deckhands:

Even though Montauk ranks third in overall number of ground fishing permits today, in 1991 it did not even register in the top 25 ports in number of permits. This is a reflection of the purchase* of permits in the years after 1991 to insure access to the fishery. It also indicates how counting registered fishing permits is not a good indicator of the number of commercial vessels in a port, nor necessarily of catch effort*.

*Note by Clay: There are currently no fees for acquisition of any Northeast federal fisheries permits.

*Note by Clay: NMFS calculations of current and past effort rely on landings data rather than permit data. Permit data are sometimes used in conjunction with landings data in order to estimate latent effort -- effort which could move into the fishery in the future if conditions changed.

As of 1995, there were forty reported commercial vessels in Montauk (Drumm 1995). However, the according to a Coast Guard office and field counts of vessels, the functional ground fishing fleet consists of only 24 vessels, not 40 as reported by Drumm (1995). A 1996 NMFS permit file puts the number of commercial vessels counting Montauk as their port city* at 76. This includes all types of commercial MGF permits. Of these, 46 count Montauk as their home city, 27 other New York cities and towns while three reside in other states, including New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida. However, the total number of groundfish permits held is 132.

*Note by Clay: NMFS permit data include self designations by the vessel owner of the vessel's home port and primary port of landing. These may or may not be the same port.

In February, a total of 18 of the commercial fleet of medium to large scale vessels ranging from 32 to 90 feet were counted at the dock in February, and another six reported out fishing. All commercial vessels observed were trawlers with the exception of two lobster vessels. Party boats, tuna head boats*, and whale watching boats dominated the drydock area.

*Note by Clay: "Head boat" is another term for party boat, trips where the payment is per person (per head) rather than a charter of the vessel by a single group or individual.

Fishing effort off Montauk and on commercial stocks targeted by Montauk fishers (e.g., Loligo) is increasing somewhat from migration of vessels from other ports since the closure of portions of the Georges Bank. This has caused some concern and conflict between local fishers and these "outsiders" (key respondents--two commercial fisher, and Drumm 1995). A key respondent reported that the large boats from the New England fishery now fishing out of Ocean City, Maryland are directly competing with the Montauk fleet for whiting, squid and other species.

There has been a transition from commercial to charter boat/recreational fishing with the decline of local fishery stocks. Part of this conversion includes a shift of effort into tuna fishing, which is seen as a viable alternative as groundfish fishing has become less lucrative in the Sound:

A major concern and source of potential conflict is the competition between the stabilized commercial fleet and an expanding recreational sector. The sportfishing industry on Long Island contributes about $1.1 billion to the economy, while commercial fishing contributes a yearly average $54 million in seafood for public consumption. There are an estimated 174,000 saltwater fishing households on Long Island, and within the three mile limit, recreational catches of fluke, bluefish and scup regularly exceed harvests by commercial fishers (Fagin 1994). Recent state laws include a series of bills that ban trawling near Long Island inlets and some other prime fishing areas. The prime purpose of the law is not to conserve fish but "to help marina operators, bait shop owners and others by making more fish available for sport fishermen" (Fagin 1994:A51).

Commercial fishers are also concerned over the level of pollution in nearshore waters. Algal blooms, including "red tide," have wreaked havoc with bay waters and shellfish. In 1994, concerns centered around dioxin pollution and other pollutants which were forcing fishers offshore. A song written by Billy Joel ("The Downeaster Alexa") describes how Montauk fishers have to travel farther and farther off shore to make a catch because of environmental problems (Swift 1994).

Avoiding pollution and abiding by nearshore restrictions means longer trips at greater distances offshore. Fishing farther offshore has increased risk for those who traditionally fished the Sound, and two local baymen died at sea in 1993 while fishing far from shore. Traditional fishing cycles of 2-4 days were tied into "making market." With trip lengths increasing to 5 days or more, including greater transit distance and costs to reach the grounds, it has made earning an income more unpredictable. A local crewman explains: "We have to fish with the cycles - when markets open up to buy fish--if we can't do this it makes it difficult to make a living - your income becomes very erratic."

In response to such events and economic concerns over fishing families, the Montauk Emergency Fishermen's Fund was initiated in 1993. The purpose of this fund is "to take care of fishermen and their immediate families who experience loss of life at sea, medical hardship, or severe economic hardship" (Fund president).

Communication with management was expressed as a lack of understanding of what fishers and fishing was all about. Interviews with local commercial fishers indicated a frustration with the management process, and that fishers felt their concerns were ignored even when they did have a chance to speak:

Given the isolation of Montauk, with few options other than marine resource utilization, this community is highly dependent on sustaining its commercial fishing enterprise. As in other secondary ports in this study, the commercial groundfish fishing sector in Montauk does not appear to be expanding, nor does it appear to be reproducing itself through replacement of old vessels with new, increased processing capacity, or increasing social yield (the number of fishers who sustainably participate). Declines in all of these areas are being hastened by the growth of the recreational sector, increasing fishing costs, pollution impacts on stocks, and regulatory restrictions. Yet, the expansion of fishers into new fisheries such as tilefish, and switching to tuna fishing and other strategies (e.g., whale watching) has given the commercial fishing community more flexibility than in larger ports such as Gloucester.



F. Cape May, New Jersey and Ocean City, Maryland

Situated at the southeastern tip of New Jersey, at the mouth of Delaware Bay, Cape May has long been a departure and arrival point for the well-traveled Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE ferry, a transportation link between the cities of the north and the Delmarva Peninsula. Among nearby cities to the south is Ocean City, Maryland's premier tourist destination and a common destination for tourists from Washington, DC, and other nearby metropolitan areas. In both areas, tourism dominates the economic activity and the commercial fishing fleets are, on the one hand, appendages to the tourist sectors and, on the other, economic activities that have been marginalized by the tourist sector. Fishers in both locations have experienced the encroaching effects of coastal gentrification and real estate development, although portions of the fleet in Cape May have situated themselves within the tourist trade in a way similar to Chatham fishers, becoming tourist attractions themselves and providing fresh fish to local markets and restaurants.

In Ocean City, the commercial fleet ties up at a small sheltered harbor south of the boardwalk and other attractions of the tourist trade. As noted elsewhere in this report, the fleet seems more marginalized than the fleet in Cape May, a portion of which has been well integrated into the tourist industry. McCay, et al. (1993) said this about Ocean City, lending support to the notion that the fleet is becoming more marginalized over time: "Ocean City residents are begrudgingly tolerant of the commercial fishing industry. The commercial docks are located between a business and residential section. Residents are making sure the commercial businesses and boats stick to the letter of the [zoning] law. Also, landside access to the harbor area is limited in that there is only one street on which a tractor trailer can drive. In the past gear was stored on property that was zoned residential but this practice has been eliminated. Some very expensive homes have been built close to the harbor area and these owners do not like the sight of the gear."

Ocean City's fleet is primarily a small- to medium-sized vessel fleet, operating as day vessels and fishing often in Maryland state waters for blue crab, particularly behind the barrier islands. Cape May's fleet is larger and more diverse than Ocean City's, fishing with draggers, lobster pots, gillnets, and black sea bass pots. In 1993, McCay, et al. (1993: 76) reported that squid was becoming the most important species in Cape May, that there were 33 local draggers and 57 transient vessels. The fleet supplies fish to a bustling seafood processing sector at four primary locations around the city, creating shore-side employment for over 200 individuals, some of whom are contracted for work from as far away as Philadelphia.

Observing transient vessels is not less common in Ocean City. Perhaps the most significant attribute of the Cape May and Ocean City ports is their status as ports for transient boats from the north and south. During our visits, we saw shrimp vessels from North Carolina, Mississippi, and Norfolk in these ports, alongside local vessels. The central locations of Cape May and Ocean City in terms of northern and southern fisheries, combined with an increase in transience among fishers in general as crises develop in one fishery after another, is likely to increase the importance of these ports in the future.



G. Southern Range: Hampton Roads/Newport News, VA, and Wanchese, NC

At this, the southern range of the ground fishing fleet, fishers who are native to the area have developed a multi-species, multi-gear, highly flexible fishing strategy that relies on state and federal waters and includes the commercial exploitation of several species. Unlike the fleet based in the Gulf of Maine, the winter season along North Carolina's Outer Banks and the mouth of the Chesapeake is a heavy sink net fishing season, when commercial fishers target weakfish, various basses, flounder, monkfish bycatch, and dogfish. During this season, as well, fishers from several ports in the northeast also land fish at the fish houses of Wanchese, North Carolina and the two Virginia ports of Hampton Roads and Newport News. During a visit in March 1996, we encountered three New Bedford-based fishers off-loading monkfish and monkfish livers from a 40' craft at one of the principal seafood dealers in Wanchese, and in Portland we listened while fishers related stories of wintering off North Carolina's coast, as much to escape the chilling Gulf of Maine winter as to catch and land fish.

In part because fishers in this region depend nearly as much on fishing in state waters as fishing in federal waters, those we interviewed seemed less disturbed by federal regulations than fishers in other ports. At the same time, Eastern Dare/Outer Banks fishers were less concerned (although not entirely unconcerned) about water quality issues than fishers in the other four regions. They expressed some concern over the navigational difficulties surrounding Oregon Inlet, but were far less inclined to bring up the issues of hog waste, mining, or forestry than other fishers we interviewed. Because of problems with Oregon Inlet, many seafood dealers have moved their marketing and processing operations from Wanchese to the Newport News/Hampton Roads region, both expanding their seafood buying capabilities and creating more integrated linkages between the two landing centers.

Based on visits to the area and interviews primarily with seafood dealers, there are around 80 to 100 trawlers in the 60' to 100' range that land fish in the Hampton/Newport News area, although not all of these are local vessels. These fish for flounder--known throuout the Northeast as "fluke"--in the winter time and scallop in the summer. An important bycatch of the scallop fishery in this region are monkfish. Seafood dealers interviewed ranged from the belief that changing regulations would affect no fisher to believing they would have negative impacts on around half of the fleet, with 25 percent moving into other fisheries and 25 percent, primarily the larger vessels, going out of business.

Local fishers felt that New England fishers had been infringing upon their fishing territories and water since before Amendment # 5, and Amendment # 7 has exacerbated this. Fishers operating out of the mouth of the Chesapeake expressed deepest concerns, among all the fishing issues, over problems with the quota systems for summer flounder. Fishing "inside" or in state waters for summer flounder has long been a central part of North Carolina and Virginia fishers, and they have, historically, supplemented these catches with summer flounder caught in federal waters. Quotas for summer flounder have caused them to shift from summer flounder to mackerel and dogfish, as well as move into the squid fisheries that are more popular along the New Jersey shore.

Some fishers we interviewed cited a decrease in wintertime fishing opportunities--related, in part, to recent decline in oyster stocks--saying that this has led to increases in summertime fisheries, particularly crabbing in inside waters. As fishers come into the Pamlico and Currituck Sounds, they encounter crowding problems associated with the trap fisheries of North Carolina's Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System. Similar difficulties face crabbers in the Chesapeake, who have historically defined and defended territories. Thus, moving into inland waters is only a partial solution for fishers in this region.

Two factors influence the behaviors of fishers in this region: that they switch between federal and state waters and hence depend on several gears and species through the year, and that they rely heavily on nets. The former predisposes fishers in this region to object to some of the federal quota systems and to view competition from fishers from other states as problematic; the latter makes them more sensitive to those regulations affecting nets, particularly Florida's net ban (which has caused an increase in Florida net fishers fishing in North Carolina waters or the federal waters near North Carolina), mandated modifications to nets because of turtles or bycatch issues, and mesh size regulations.

Fishers along the Outer Banks and from Wanchese are especially sensitive to the historical importance of their fisheries and related marine lifestyles, beginning with the shore-based whaling fisheries of the early colonial period and going through subsequent periods where fishing families provided life-saving services to hundreds of ships that make up the "Ghost Fleet" of the Outer Banks. Fishers we interviewed here mentioned the importance of this history in terms of the memories of old fishers. One claimed, for example, that there have been periods in local fishers' pasts that they had to migrate to Florida because of declines in local fish stocks, making the argument that regulations need to consider extreme fluctuations in fish stocks as part of the economic hazards of commercial fishing. This same fishers noted the importance of life-time experience in fishing and of the difference between knowledge gained through direct experience and knowledge gained through scientific methods; the latter, of course, may suffer from sampling biases, while the former may suffer from other kinds of biases (economic, political, religious, etc.), yet combining the two could far better inform the regulatory community than sole reliance on one or the other.

The heavy dependence on Wanchese as a fishing community demands special attention in this section. Seven principal families of seafood dealers ring the seafood industrial park and serve as the central locations of the estimated 200 fishing families who live in Wanchese as well as anchor the southern marketing behaviors of fishers from as far away as New Bedford, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine. The fleets that originate from here, and the fishing activity focused by the seafood dealers and the ports, concentrate around the seafood industrial park and fleets of trawlers organized or encouraged by seafood dealers. The large, >100' vessels, as is occurring elsewhere, have been less active recently, their captains and crews now fishing from smaller crafts.

These arrangements have been replicated in the NewportNews/Hampton area. As one leaves either Wanchese or migrates across the Chesapeake, to Virginia's Eastern Shore and the other parts of the Delmarva Peninsula, more independent, owner-operator fishing operations prevail, with some long-time loyalties between fishers and fish dealers that hinge on the questions of slip space and access. In recent years, fishers in this region have become increasingly concerned that real estate development will entice dealers to sell their space to developers less interested in commercial fishing than in providing marinas and condominiums for recreational boating traffic.

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