My View of Life on the Dock
Brian, a fellow blogger from Brooklyn came to town for a visit. Before he came I tried to give him some suggestions on stuff to do around town.
Click this text to read his account of his day in Gloucester
‘Distorting’ catch share criticism
By Richard Gaines
Staff Writer
In June, the Environmental Defense Fund considered a critique of privatized fisheries — a goal of EDF — by Ecotrust Canada and found that the two organizations generally agree.
It was a conclusion Ecotrust Canada did not share.
EDF’s Johanna Thomas wrote in an Environmental Defense Fund blog that she “just read ‘A Cautionary Tale About ITQs in BC Fisheries’ by Ecotrust Canada.
“What struck me most is that we seem to be moving beyond the debate about whether catch shares provide conservation benefits. It’s clear that they do.
Read the rest of this story here
What is interesting after reading the story is when you find the blog he references and read the responses from people that have experienced the first hand effects of what catch shares have done to fishing communities-
Dear Johanna,
Ecotrust Canada’s motivation for publishing a “Cautionary Tale about ITQ Fisheries” stems from the fact that some industry and environmental groups — including EDF — exaggerate the importance of catch shares in sustainable fisheries and have ignored or downplayed their negative side. Your blog posting makes our report sound like a glowing reference for ITQs and minimizes our critique of some fundamental problems as experienced in British Columbia, Canada.
We are also not in agreement that catch shares alone will conserve fish stocks: other factors, like restricting destructive gear, ensuring proper enforcement and stock assessment, are perhaps even more important. In fact, we have seen fish stock declines in catch share fisheries in BC, including abalone, halibut and hake.
A proper and more balanced reading of our report would suggest that, as implemented in BC, catch shares have created huge market distortions and have missed the mark in achieving a number of objectives. Specifically, EDF promotes catch shares because:
1. Catch shares “give fishermen a financial stake… in fisheries.”
In BC, those initially gifted catch shares have become the owners of the resource, but many have decided to lease their quota instead of fishing it themselves. In the halibut fishery, 100% of the quota is leased. Lease fees often consume 70 to 80 percent of the landed value of the catch. The lucrative leasing has pushed up the price of quota and now new entrants or fishermen with little quota are unable to purchase it and are forced to continue leasing. Ironically, in BC, catch shares have had the opposite effect of encouraging ownership. In the future, fewer working fishermen will have a financial stake in fisheries; that’s especially true for new entrants who now lease other people’s expensive quotas.
2. Catch shares “improve fishing safety.”
The high cost of leasing quota bleeds income away from working fishermen, both captains and crews, forcing vessels to go to sea with inexperienced or insufficient crew. There is considerable anecdotal evidence that vessels in the trawl fishery, which became a catch share fishery in 1997, are fishing with fewer crew as a result. Safety statistics, particularly the number of fatalities on trawlers, suggest the groundfish trawl fishery has become less safe after the introduction of catch shares. Longline fishermen are also airing similar complaints about crew shares and the lack of money to properly maintain vessels.
3. Catch shares “increase profits.”
Profits for who? Many fishermen in BC are complaining that despite high prices for fresh fish few of them are profiting from BC’s sustainable fisheries. Leasing fees for catch shares take up to 70 to 80 percent of the landed value, leaving very little for working fishermen. In 2008, fishermen formed the BC Longline Fishermen Association (http://www.bclonglinefishermen.com) to reform the catch share fishery because of acute financial problems.
“As we know,” writes the group’s leader Art Davidson, “the B.C. Hook and line Groundfish Fishermen are in a desperate state and if nothing is done soon the fleet will be operating under unsafe conditions and experienced crew will be non existent. It is time to take action to make the industry viable to ensure upkeep of the vessels and to pay our crew a fair wage to reflect the demands of the work and the sacrifices they make.”
What can be done? Both Ecotrust Canada and Ecotrust have been working on solutions to these many problems. The U.S. Fisheries Management Councils should support community structures such as Community Trusts (e.g. the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust), Community and Regional Fishing Associations as permitted by the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries law, and other examples from British Columbia, such as The Pacific Coast Fishermen’s Conservation Company and Groundfish Development Autority. These structures can address many of the problems elucidated in our study, including high debt loads for new entrants, high lease rates, and so on.
I encourage all those with an interest in American fisheries and fishing-dependent communities to read Ecotrust Canada’s report carefully so that you don’t repeat the same mistakes with catch shares that have left many BC fishermen in a “desperate state.”
Regards,
Eric Enno Tamm
eric@ecotrust.ca
Communications Manager
Ecotrust Canada
You can find the ecotrust website by clicking this text
Check out some other local sites for more Gloucester Schooner Festival Coverage-
If there are any other local blogs I missed wiuth Schooner coverage, lert me know and I’ll list em here.
From Kat Valentine-
Thursday, September 03, 2009
The annual Schooner Festival is this weekend and the artists of the North Shore Arts Association will be out painting them. Below are a selection of some of my favorite schooner paintings by area artists and the schedule for the NSAA Schooner Festival Wet Paint Event.
The schedule for painters and where they will be painting is on my blog at: http://parlezmoiblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/schooner-festival-this-weekend.html
Feel free to copy it here, Joe.
Meet Discovery Channel’s “The Deadliest Catch” Captains John & Andy Hillstrand of the F/V Time Bandit! Pics from Cape Pond Ice Page
This from Barry Nickerson, Founder of The Boston Nautical Heritage Group-
to subscribe to his newsletter check out the site
Labor Day finally arrived. While most of the summer has been on rain delay, the weather forecast is for a cool, clear, dry and hopefully breezy weekend. Is it enough to hold us through till next spring…. ?
After many years of trial & tribulation, we should return to our normal publication schedule next week. The Gloucester Schooner Race is a favorite event, and felt compelled to plug it. While the website will start to come together later this fall, we do have 2 images from past schooner races….. www.BostonNautical.com We have a book about the Fishermen’s Races & Gloucester in the works..
PASS THE WORD
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Please feel free to pass this along to family & friends who may enjoy sailing & adventuring with us, and suggest that they can sign up for the best information on sailing aboard historic vessels anywhere in the world by sending an email to OnTheWind_Newsletter@BostonNautical.com with “subscribe” in the subject line. We’ll be happy to send along a copy of the newsletter directly to their email inbox, and feel free to print the contents out and pass it along….. and if you aren’t interested, please scroll to the end to unsubscribe.
25th annual Gloucester Schooner Festival, Gloucester, MAÂ Â Saturday Sept. 6 – Sunday Sept. 7
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This is an event that should not be missed !
For centuries, Gloucester and Cape Ann fed the world by building, outfitting and crewing thousands of wooden schooners that sailed out in all weather to catch cod off the Northeast Coast. The waterfront was lined with shipbuilders and the services that supported the vessels and crews. Sailmakers, riggers and others competed with fish drying shacks and fish houses for space, all bent on harvesting the sea as often as possible, and turning boats around as quickly as possible for maximum return.
Skippers knew that the freshest fish brought the best price, so once the holds were full, they bent on all sails and made for port, often competing with other vessels to make it home first, regardless of season and weather. It’s entirely possible that a friendly wager or 2 was made on what Captain would bring his vessel home first…
In 1920 a group of Halifax, NS businessmen offered a challenge to the fishermen of Gloucester to a race, and the Gloucestermen responded with a victory aboard a 14 year old vessel hastily prepared after 2 months at sea, with a Captain that had never sailed aboard the vessel. She was the ESPERANTO, hence the name of the trophy awarded to the winning vessel in the larger schooner class, the Esperanto Cup. The series of races that took place in the following years drew more interest than the America’s Cup. New England publisher David R. Godine published a book about the International Fishermen’s Races, and it’s a great resource. http://www.godine.com/isbn.asp?isbn=1567923135
Today, the Gloucester Schooner Festival is recognized throughout the world as a significant historical events, and Captains bring their schooners from around North America & Bermuda to compete and pay tribute to a way of life often forgotten.
This year has special significance, as 2 icons of the Fisherman’s Series may come together at the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center www.GloucesterMaritimeCenter.org 978.281.0470 on Saturday;
The Bluenose II, the faithful replica of the original Bluenose http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluenose & http://museum.gov.ns.ca/bluenose/index.htm will offer deck tours from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday. She’s the schooner on the Canadian dime, postage and license plates. While she no longer “races”, she will likely sail the course on Sunday and shadow the fleet. She’s impressive dockside, but underway, she’s simply magnificent. The Nova Scotia archives has her rich history posted at http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/bluenose/ch4.asp?SearchList1=4&Language=English
Recently acquired by the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center is the Sir Thomas Lipton trophy – earned by the Gertrude L. Thebaud 79 years ago in a race with the pre-eminent Nova Scotia champion Bluenose – is back home and may possibly be on display. You might consider a donation to the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center help support this acquisition and future articles of Gloucester heritage. In addition to the tours of Bluenose, the GMHC exhibits & aquarium are open free of charge from 10 am to 5 pm. The address is 23 Harbor Loop, Gloucester, MA.
If you’d like to see the schooners underway on Sunday, there are 2 opportunities;
From the shore:
All competing schooners will parade out of the harbor from 09:00 to 10:30, past a reviewing stand by the Fisherman’s Monument on Stacy Blvd. Famed Gloucester historians Joe Garland & Daisy Nell will broadcast a commentary on the history of the race and each vessel as they come past. It’s a great way for the family to see these vessels under sail, and for free (Although it’s a good idea to have a fresh cup of coffee from Dunkin Donuts, the major sponsor, in hand.)  Get positioned early, and bring a lawn chair so you can cheer on the vessels.
From the sea:
Some of the competing vessels may have room for “extra hands” to come aboard for the race, pitch in hoisting and tuning sails and to experience racing aboard a schooner. Schedules and available change right up to the morning of the race, so the best way to sign aboard available schooners is to call my cell at 781.249.4348. It will be on 24/7, and we’ll know by Saturday evening what space may be available. If you do decide to come, bring an extra jacket, sweater, eye protection and a hat, pack a light lunch as well as a camera with extra film or memory cards. It’s an experience you won’t forget and want to share!
Beyond the schooner race, there’s a lot to see & do in Gloucester. Here are some favorites;
– If you are on the waterfront, take a short stroll up to Bodin Historic Photo at 82 Main St. in Gloucester, 978.283.2524 and catch a glimpse of what Gloucester was like….back then. Photographer Fred Bodin displays and sells prints from his collection of over 9,000 glass and film negatives that he has rescued from barns, garages and attics, preserving the images forever. Fred hand prints, sepia tones, and frames each photograph himself, using archival museum quality materials. Subjects include beaches, hotels, landscapes, people, and the famous sailing schooners of New England. http://www.bodinhistoricphoto.com/
– If in search of a good book, you might ask Greg Gibson about his selection of historical maritime books, charts & manuscripts at the Ten pound Island Book Company, www.tenpound.com Greg has a great selection, and his shop is open Labor Day weekend. He periodically publishes an online catalog of his inventory, and signing aboard for his newsletter is easy & worthwhile. The shop will be open all weekend from 12 to 5, and the address is 77 Langsford St., Gloucester, MA, 978 282 4569.
– Be sure to visit the Essex Shipbuilding Museum http://www.essexshipbuildingmuseum.com in Essex where many great schooners were born, and where great schooners continue to be built….and just down the street from Woodman’s, the birthplace of the fried clam http://www.woodmans.com The Museum is at 66 Main Street in Essex, MA 978.768.7541. Woodman’s is just down the street..just follow your nose.
– Want to be fascinated ? Visit the Cape Ann Museum at 27 Pleasant St. in downtown Gloucester. http://www.capeannhistoricalmuseum.org
Here are some additional links about the history of fishing in Gloucester, Bluenose and the International Fishermen’s Cup;
http://www.downtosea.com
http://openlibrary.org/b/OL12237059M/Caught-in-Irons
Thanks for being aboard, and we hope to sail with you soon. Enjoy the weekend, and travel safe.
Fair winds,
Barry L. Nickerson, President & Founder
BOSTON NAUTICAL HERITAGE GROUP
PO Box 379
Stoughton, MA 02072-0379 978.283.0455
I wonder how old these masts are and where the lumber came from and also where it was cut and formed for a mast.
To find out more about the Spirit Of Massachusetts and the OceanClassroom click this text
Spirit Of Massachusetts Mast, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
Charlee, a Cape Ann Beacon correspondent has traveled to China where she will be teaching and also blogging on her new blog- www.charleebeth.wordpress.com I’m really looking forward to Charlee’s updates. Even with her first couple of posts I feel transported. What a journey.
Live it up kid. Remember what I told you- you have that blank canvas- paint a beautiful picture.
This from China-
Hello All from Qufu, China!
I just wanted to let all of you know that you can keep up with my travels in India, China and hopefully South East Asia through my blog: www.charleebeth.wordpress.com. I’ll have the first few entries up by Friday afternoon, I’m hoping. If there are any other updates I want to pass along West, I will most likely be sending them to this group list. If you’d like to be taken off of the list, please let me know.
Also, here is my address here in Qufu. I would love to hear any news from home you guys are willing to pass along.
Charlee Bianchini
College of International Cultural Exchange
Qufu Teachers University
Qudu, Shandong 273165
Peoples Republic of China
Sending all my love and best wishes from the Orient,
Charlee
If you get a chance, leave Charlee a comment on her blog to let her know you saw it. Bloggers love feedback. It lets them know that what they’re doing is worth while.
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Twenty-Fifth Annual Click here for a list of Schooners that will sail in the Mayor’s Race on Sunday, September 6, 2009. |
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Race Results Sailing Instructions Chamber Artist Donald A. Mosher Cape Ann’s Schooners Click here for information on the restoration efforts American Schooner Association |
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From Josh Brackett-
Hi, GMG,
CapeAnnPolitics.org is up and running. It’s a new (and different) online forum for Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester, and Essex that some friends of mine and I are starting, .
Josh
Kat Valentine contacted Jay Albert from CapeAnnImages and I about a project she volunteered to do for the City when the Tourism Director’s job was axed. She designed a beautiful site for Gloucester Tourism and needed some content so I was happy to oblige by providing photos. Jay provided his photos as well and there have been a bunch of more folks that love our community that have donated stories and more content since Kat went live with the site. You ought to check out the beautiful work she did-
click this text to go to the ILOVEGLOUCESTER.COM site
From Kat Valentine-
Hi,
Y’all know I dig our local coffee shops. Cape Ann Coffees, Pleasant Street Tea and Coffee Co, and the most regular of my stops in the heart of beautiful Downtown Gloucester -The Lone Gull.
Talking to Joe Borge, son of Lone Gull owner Joe Borge, he told me about a band he plays in- Your Favorite Ex.
Here’s the page where you can listen to some of their songs-
Joe is the Rocker in the right of the picture taken by Petey Photography
Matt Noyes, the best weatherman around has featured a bunch of GMG pictures on NECN’s sky scenes segment. Â
Here’s the latest one that he featured on his web site MattNoyes.net It was a photo I took early in the morning of the Gloucester Tri which features Saint Peter’s Parking Lot and City Hall.
To say that Jonathan Kozowyk’s website design is understated would be pretty accurate IMO but his photography is anything but.
There’s no photo of Jonathan, no backround on him, no mission statement, no crap. Just digital images of his subjects, a telephone number and an email addy.
The Hive Artist’s site can be found here- http://jonathankozowyk.com/
Here’s your reminder to call and try to get reservations for tonight’s Downtown Gloucester Block Party. August 15th.
Tons of fun for the whole family. For a buttload of information check out the www.downtowngloucester.com website put together by the fabulous Vickie Van Ness. Any local artisans who would like to showcase their stuff leave a comment here or find our contact info on the Downtown Gloucester website and I’ll give you the skinny on how to go about it. As always we don’t charge anything for you to participate we only ask that you be local and have fun doing it!
Downtown Gloucester Block Party, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
Stop Action Photography- The Dory Races, Greasy Pole and Gloucester Tri Presented by Mark Teiwes
Sail Gloucester 2009 From Jay Albert
Express Yourself, Gloucester!– A photo collage of Gloucester’s families and friends through the years from Sharon Lowe
Annisquam– From Jim Barber
Gloucester- Land, Sea and Air From Steve Borichevsky
All Along the Waterfront From Kate Glass
After being inundated with emails for race results I called Race Director Bill Burnett who told me that later today they will be available on www.coolrunning.com
For any of the entrants, family or friends of entrants that found GoodMorningGloucester through a web search feel free to pass along this link to the many pictures and video coverage of the Gloucester Tri-
Gloucester Tri Coverage On GoodMorningGlouester
We here at GMG are looking for entrant feedback from the Triathlon. Your experience in Gloucester, how well it was organized and any other feedback you can provide for a post-race compilation to be published here. Please leave your comments!
This morning I had a conversation with Bill Burnett, the Race Director for The Gloucester Triathlon. Â We spoke at Gloucester High School where they are setting up to distribute the race packets to the entrants. Video this afternoon at 3PM
Bill Burnett Race Director For The Gloucester Triatlon Sets Up, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
From Vickie Van Ness-
For Fans Choice
For the GIMMESOUND.COM GiveBack Live Music Series
Good Morning Gloucester 