New England Fishery Management Council nixes proposed scallop license leasing program

GLOUCESTER — After months of efforts by proponents, the New England Fishery Management Council chose not to move forward with the development of a scallop license allocation leasing program for the limited access fishery at its September meeting.  

Around 100 were in attendance Tuesday at the Beauport Hotel, mostly scallopers, many of whom were from New Bedford, including Justin Mello.

"I'm obviously happy," Mello, who spoke against the leasing program before, said after the move died. 

"The Council did its job," said Tyler Miranda, another New Bedford scalloper. "I actually have faith in the process again."

Leasing would have allowed owners of limited access scallop licenses to sell portions of their days at sea to other boat owners.

"This leasing would be great for me," said Paul Weckesser, owner of six scallopers and multiple shoreside enterprises. "I'm pretty vertically integrated."

He said that he knew what happened in the groundfish fishery when it consolidated a decade ago and saw the effects of rationalization — a similar policy in the Alaska fishery — when it was enacted there. 

"I've seen who it hurts," he said, pointing to a row of scallop crewmen behind him. "It's these people right here."

Hours of discussion 

The decision came on the heels of an hours-long discussion following a motion put forward by Council member Michael Pentony.

Pentony, who is also regional administrator for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Division, sought to allow for a voluntary days at sea leasing program in the fishery.

The program, as proposed was to be limited to internal transfers between boats of the same company, limit allocations to two per vessel, and address catastrophic failures and sinking. 

Council member Togue Brawn seconded the motion.

"As a scallop committee, it was our role to a create a leasing program to address concerns of flexibility," she said. "I feel if we let this die now, we're abdicating our responsibility."

Several council members brought up reservations with the off-the-cuff nature of the proposed amendment.

"It just sounds like a full-blown leasing amendment with no constrictions," which I find problematic," Said NEFMC member Libby Etrie. "I understand your concern about balancing the interest of all sides ... I can't support it."

Political opposition from New Bedford

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell spoke earlier in the meeting in opposition to the program.

"There are a lot of people who made the two-hour drive up here from New Bedford, and that is for good reason," Mitchell said in his remarks. "By design, [leasing] will lead to consolidation. You are about to open up Pandora's Box."

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State Rep. Chris Markey addressed the group, saying he was speaking on behalf of New Bedford's state legislative contingent. 

"Rarely are we united to the degree we are right now," he said. "These are the people who are the core of our economy. But when you take that away from us, you are taking away our entire economy.

"Putting leasing on scallops will destroy New Bedford."

Not everyone was happy with the 'outcome.

"We're disappointed," said George Lapointe of the Scalloper's Campaign, a pro-leasing group. "We believe that leasing broadly was going to give us the flexibility we needed.

"We have to figure out what's next."

Months of debate on scallop leasing

The decision comes after months of debate on the issue. 

During its three-month scoping process, the NEFMC invited stakeholders to attend nine meetings in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, and two webinars.

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The only state that saw multiple meetings was Massachusetts, with one in Gloucester on April 27, and the two New Bedford meetings.

The meetings in New Bedford were the most well attended by far, with 160 and 80 participants respectively, 60% of the total 397 attendees at all meetings recorded by the Council.

77 of the 305 comments submitted to the NEFMC were presented orally. 58% of those were given at the New Bedford meetings.

When written comments were taken into account, they came in from nine states, the majority, 120, coming in from Massachusetts.

Most of those in favor of leasing came from outside Massachusetts, according to the report.

In its 2021 Annual Report on the Status of Fisheries, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agencies said New Bedford was the nation's largest landing point for scallops, making up 84% of the port's $451 million worth of seafood landings in 2020.

According to the Council, the vast majority, 78%, of the 286 commenters (several repeated, inflating the total number to 305) spoke against the proposed allocation leasing project during the scoping process.

Contact Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@s-t.com and follow him on Twitter: @KevinGAndrade. Support local journalism and subscribe to the Standard-Times today!