Contact: Matt Stout FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11/1/96
One hundred and sixty-four vessel owners have submitted bids totaling $58.25 million in response to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's $23 million vessel buyout program. The program is designed to provide economic assistance to fishermen affected by dwindling groundfish stocks while aiding the long-term viability of the fishery resource by reducing current overcapacity.
Based on an earlier pilot program, NOAA officials expect that as much as 22 percent of active groundfish capacity may be retired as a result of the Fishing Capacity Reduction Initiative. They also estimate that about 80 vessels could be either scrapped, sunk, or directed to other non-fishery related reuses as a result of this sustainable development initiative.
Massachusetts fishermen submitted the most applications (109), followed by Maine (38), New York (7), Rhode Island (4), New Jersey (3) and New Hampshire (3).
The FCRI program is a slightly modified version of the Fishing Capacity Reduction Demonstration Program, a $2 million pilot program which permanently retired 11 groundfish fishing vessels and 26 federal fishing permits. Both programs are voluntary and bids are ranked according to the lowest ratios between bids and average annual groundfish revenues. One key difference between the pilot program and the expanded FCRI is that under the pilot program, successful applicants were required to either scrap or sink their vessels, while under the larger program certain non-fishery reuses are allowed.