Part I: Some history; regulations; and a PR problem
Sometimes it’s hard to know who to listen to and what to believe. That goes for consumers trying to understand which type of seafood is good to eat, and for fishermen who are trying to figure out what the best thing to do is during an uncertain time.
Claims made by organizations like Seafood Watch, the Conservation Law Foundation, and others, that lobster gear, and therefore lobstermen, are responsible for the demise of the North Atlantic Right Whale are unfounded and vilifying. But most consumers don’t understand commercial fishing, they don’t comprehend how cumbersomely it’s managed, and they don’t get how integrally tied fishing is to a fisherman’s identify and culture, so it’s easy for them to be misguided.
How did that happen?
In the 1840s, Maine established its first commercial lobster fishery. Maine lobstermen have been successfully managing the resource, supporting coastal communities, and protecting the Gulf of Maine since that time, if not long before it. Their success and experience precede the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Act, NOAA, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch.
Lobstering in Maine is the most sustainable fishery in the world and remains an owner-operator model, meaning the person behind the wheel of the boat also owns the permit that allows them to fish; it is an industry made up of small businesses, family businesses that have been managing a resource and advocating for their industry for generations.
Lobstermen established the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) in 1954 and they have played a leading role in shaping the lobster fishery since that time promoting sustainable fishing practices, supporting Maine’s lobster businesses, and advocating for Maine lobstermen.
The National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) that we know today, informally known as NOAA fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It originated in 1871 when President Ulysses S. Grant created the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. NOAA was established by President Richard Nixon, and NMFS became what we know it to be today in 1970.
NOAA forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charts the seas, conducts deep sea exploration, and manages fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Specifically, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship of U.S. national marine resources and has over four thousand employees and a budget just over one billion dollars.
In comparison, the United States Department of Agriculture, founded by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. In 2022, the USDA’s budget was nearly 200 billion dollars, which is actually less than years prior, and employed about 100,000 people.
From the USDA website:
We provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on public policy, the best available science, and effective management.
We have a vision to provide economic opportunity through innovation, helping rural America to thrive; to promote agriculture production that better nourishes Americans while also helping feed others throughout the world; and to preserve our Nation's natural resources through conservation, restored forests, improved watersheds, and healthy private working lands.
While the USDA clearly celebrates farmers and provides opportunities for farmers to promote their harvest, NMFS perpetuates a (false) narrative that, if left to their own accord, fishermen will ultimately harm the environment and destroy fish stocks.
In its mission, NMFS recognizes that coastal communities depend on healthy marine species, but it falls short of making the connection that this is in large part because coastal communities depend on fishing businesses that rely on their ability to catch fish to make a living. While the USDA highlights the integral role of the farmer in agriculture and the key role of agriculture in food production, NMFS’ mission puts an emphasis on marine ecosystems and that fishing businesses are a result of a healthy ecosystem rather than a part of the system. Bluntly, the USDA more clearly articulates the connection between farmer and food, and farming businesses and the rural economy.
Some might argue that this is semantics, and they would not be wrong to do so but evidence may suggest otherwise. For example, despite agriculture being a significant contributor to climate change (contributing 25% of greenhouse gas emissions), consumers clearly recognize the importance of farmers in the food system and can, in some aspects, allow the end to justify the means. Commercial fishing on the other hand is directly impacted by climate change and is an insignificant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in comparison to other sources. Yet the industry is continuously punished, vilified, and held responsible for overfishing, declining marine ecosystems, and impacts to endangered species that are caused by climate change, ship strikes, and yes, even pesticides from farms dumping into the ocean.
Why is there such a dramatic disconnect?
The USDA regulates agriculture and advocates for farmers. NMFS manages marine resources but often falls short when it comes to advocating for fishermen which was made noticeably clear in 2021 when they released a ten-year whale plan that will require the Maine lobster fishery to reduce its already minimal risk to right whales by 98 percent. A reduction that will ultimately destroy the industry and shutter family fishing businesses. While the USDA promotes farmers via the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food compass, NMFS communicates to consumers about seafood on the cumbersome and confusing FishWatch.gov website that makes little mention of fishermen but is incessant about sustainability.
In other words, maybe it’s a public relations problem. Even within the agency responsible for managing commercial fishing there is a struggle to clearly articulate the importance of commercial fishing and fishermen to the marine ecosystems and economy of coastal communities.
And this is why organizations like the Maine Lobstermen’s Association are so important, particularly right now. The MLA has the experience, connection, and understanding of Maine’s iconic lobster industry. Their history of advocacy and understanding of the fishery is exactly what is needed right now. We need organizations like the Maine Lobstermen’s Association to remind consumers, and NMFS, that Maine fishing families are deeply connected to the Gulf of Maine, that they provide a healthy and renewable food source, and that they are part of an industry worth saving.
This article was originally published in the November issue of Commercial Fisheries News. You can subscribe to the publication HERE. This is the first part of a series, Who Owns the Ocean in my column, Catch-22 that appears in CFN every other month.
