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Oregon's trawl fleet will be cut by a third

A government buyout will shrink the entire West Coast fleet by 50 percent in an effort to bring stability to fishing communities

11/01/03

JOE ROJAS-BURKE

In one historic moment, the capacity of the West Coast trawl fishing fleet will be cut nearly in half -- and Oregon's by about a third -- based on the results of a $46 million buyout to be announced next week by the U.S. government.   
    
From Washington to California, owners of 92 boats -- 35 of them in Oregon -- will be paid an average of $497,000 to permanently remove their vessels from fishing of any kind after Dec. 4.

By reducing the fleet, Congress and the industry hope to bring economic stability to coastal communities that have lost tens of millions of dollars in fishing income since the collapse of several important groundfish stocks and the official declaration in 2000 of a fishery failure.

Fishing boat owners who remain in business stand to gain a larger share of the total allowed catch in coming years. A relatively high concentration of those who will continue to fish remain along Oregon's coast.

That has sparked hopefulness, tinged with some regret, among those who are walking away from a way of life many learned as boys from their fathers.

"There's a side of me that wishes I hadn't sold," said Terry Thompson of Newport, whose bid to retire his 75-foot boat, the Olympic, was accepted. Thompson said he ultimately decided he's had enough of the grueling, dangerous and financially uncertain work.

"At 50, I could do it. At 59, it's a struggle," said Thompson, who also works as a Lincoln County commissioner.

Bob Pedro, a Coos Bay boat owner, on Friday broke the news to his crew that they will no longer have jobs aboard the Miss Linda, a 76-foot trawler among those to be retired.

"It wasn't an easy decision," said Pedro, who still has mixed feelings. His thoughts, upon learning his bid was accepted, went from pleased surprise to: "Now what?"

Coastwide, the buyout could cost the jobs of as many as 300 skippers and deckhands. Yet boats that remain in business could potentially catch twice as much fish next year.

The buyout gained overwhelming final approval this week in a vote among vested owners. A majority of the costs -- $36 million -- will be paid back to the U.S. Treasury by working trawlers, shrimpers and crab fishers over the next 30 years.

That makes it different from earlier buyouts, such as those in New England, in which Congress appropriated tens of millions of dollars, in some cases failing to significantly cut fishing capacity. Oregon Sens. Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden wrote the law authorizing the buyout.

"People around the country are watching what is occurring here," said Pete Leipzig, executive director of Fishermen's Marketing Association, a Eureka, Calif., trade group representing trawlers in Oregon, Washington and California.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency running the buyout, plans to publish Tuesday the list of vessels to be retired. Results verified Friday by The Oregonian show that Oregon's ports will immediately lose 35 vessels out of about 100 currently fishing. In Astoria alone, 11 boats will leave the fishery, but 23 will remain, Leipzig said.

The largest numbers of retiring boats are concentrated from Brookings south.

California will lose 45, and Washington, 12.

Boat owners said that shows business has become less viable in areas with less competition among fish buyers. In Crescent City, Calif., Leipzig said 16 of the 17 trawlers are retiring. The number of buyers there has dwindled to one, and all of the town's processing plants have closed, he said.

Processors now are concerned that some seafood plants in California may face worsening supply problems.

"If there is not enough boats to sustain a plant, you're either going to have to cut back operations, or worst case, close the plant," said Rod Moore, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association.

Leipzig and others said the fleet is likely to redistribute into vacated ports, as operators take advantage of open fishing and increased demand from local processors.

The exiting boats accounted for 46 percent of the average groundfish catch in recent years, in dollar terms, according to the Fisheries Service.

Pedro, the Coos Bay trawlerskipper, hopes business will substantially improve for those who stay in the fishery.

"These past couple of years, fishing hasn't been a living income," he said. He is considering converting his boat into a passenger ship for whale watching or eco-tourism.

Owners accepted in the buyout don't have to surrender the boats in which they have typically invested hundreds of thousands of dollars. But because fishing uses will be illegal, it remains unclear what value the boats will have, especially with so many likely to hit the market at once.

With the buyout, the average remaining fishing boat operator could gain close to $90,000 in additional annual sales in groundfish, according to preliminary analysis by regulators. Many fisherman remain skeptical, worried that regulators will impose more harvest limits.

Seven species have been designated overfished. Rebuilding will take decades -- up to 95 years in some cases. Government subsidies and loan programs during the 1970s set the stage for overfishing, in effect putting too many boats in seas supporting fish stocks that were not as productive as managers had thought.


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