Fishing boats are ubiquitous along New Bedford’s waterfront, which is not a good thing for fishermen – or the city, for that matter.
On any given day of the week, “90 percent of the fleet is tied to the dock,” explained Jim Kendall, a longtime New Bedford scallop captain turned seafood consultant. “Every day down here, the docks look like Christmas morning – boats rafted up three deep – and I’m certain that’s not a good thing.”
New Bedford has a fleet of about 500 boats – mostly trawlers and scallopers. The trawlers tow nets for groundfish, species including haddock, cod fish and flounder. The scallopers tow dredges for sea scallops. Some boats look decent – decent painted hulls, greased winches and drums, nets of brightly colored, carefully maintained twine, ready to fish. But then there are the other boats, the lion’s share of them: unsightly hulls of flaking rust, with bent stanchions and stays, and cracked wheelhouse windows.
“New Bedford used to be called the home of the derelict boat,” says Kristin Decas, New Bedford’s port director. “But we’re working hard on changing that reputation.”
In January 2008, port officials began a major crackdown on derelict boats, according to the The Standard-Times in New Bedford. A Fairhaven fisherman named Wayne Frye Jr. became the public face of the problem when he was ordered by a court to remove his boat from the dock. He was sentenced to spend 30 days in jail for not complying with port officials’ demands that he move his vessel, Challenge.
“Look around here. I’m not the only one,” Frye told Providence Business News back in November, the day before he was scheduled to begin serving his sentence. “They’re using me to set an example. It’s not fair. They say kids could get on my boat, trip and fall and hurt themselves. That can happen anywhere on this dock.”
Frye, a 46-year-old married father of two, managed to avoid jail time, but not the financial consequences of lost fishing time due to court appearances and storage of his aging boat, built in 1964.
He’s donating it to a Maine shipyard, which he says has plans to turn it into a training vessel for students. For now, though, he’s still paying for insurance and storage fees for the boat, one of a handful he and his family owns.
“He got the message that we aren’t fooling around anymore” Decas said of Frye. We woke a lot of people up. Fear of going to jail gets people moving.”
Also on Decas’ list are 18 other derelict vessels – vessels that aren’t fishing and haven’t fished in months and don’t look as though they will be anytime soon. “Frye’s boat was tied to the dock for over a year,” said Decas. “These derelict boats take up space and create a public-safety problem.”
The irony is that New Bedford – for eight years in a row – has earned itself the top spot for landed catch value, nationwide. In 2007, New Bedford dock workers, “lumpers,” unloaded $268 million in seafood, mostly sea scallops. Second place went to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, whose catch – mostly Alaskan Pollock – totaled $174 million.
Boats from Wanchese, N.C., to Portland, Maine, come to New Bedford to unload their sea scallops and groundfish.
“Our port infrastructure is very good. Our docks are good, our facilities are good,” Decas said. We have a hurricane barrier and a famous fish auction. And we’re affordable. It only costs $500 per year to keep your boat here. We think it makes economic sense to fish out of here.”
More boats mean more fish and more money, but it has also caused a congestion problem. “We want these boats to come here. We want to stay No. 1 for value. But that means we need to make room for boats that are actually fishing and not simply taking up prime real estate,” Decas said. “The derelict boats have got to go.”
Economic forces and regulatory pressure are also at least partly to blame for the derelict problem.“Right now we’re seeing a downward spiral,” Kendall said. “The fleet isn’t given enough time to go out and fish.”
Each trawler is given a certain number of days, now around 48, by the National Marine Fisheries Service to fish per year. That means a trawler has about 48 days to turn a profit. “It’s a joke,” said Kendall. “How do you expect a fishing boat to earn a living when it spends 320 days a year tied to the dock?” said Kendall.
Trawler owners can lease days to fish more, essentially buying more opportunity to fish. However, if a captain is in trouble financially, including falling behind on his mortgage, then he can’t invest capital into his business.
“It’s the same thing we’re seeing with the housing market. How many people do you know who are putting money into their homes right now?” said Kendall. “That new paint job is put off. The new windows. The new siding. The current economic state shows us just how quickly one can become homeless. These captains owe the fuel guy money, the insurance company money, the bank money, the net and engine guy money – you got to eat your friend just to stay alive. It’s turned into a form of cannibalism.”
Frye said last week he is turning his attention to the lobster industry and hopes to scrap together $20,000 to buy an inshore permit from a friend when he retires.
Permits are available allowing fishermen to harvest scallops. But because of a boom in the scallop fishery, such permits have increased dramatically in value. Such a permit could cost more than a million dollars, Kendall says.
The bad economy leads to more dock time, wearing away of boats and more derelicts to deal with.
“We are continuing to pursue our course of prosecuting boat owners,” Decas said. “Right now we have three other vessels in [line for prosecution]. Two owners will be going to trial – or, we’re hoping, they will settle and move their boats.
“But the problem is not the congestion of boats, that’s just a byproduct of how the fishery is managed,” she said.
Kendall agrees that derelict boats are merely a symptom of a bigger problem.
There are plenty of fish out there,” Kendall said. “Every [fishery] manager thinks it’s a fish problem. It isn’t. It’s a management problem.”
“A fisherman’s home is his boat,” he said. “Most of the guys … are doing what they do best – survive. We all would rather see the boats out fishing instead of ending up in a scrap heap.” •
