Fisheries Educational Workshop Project

Introduction The Rhode Island Sea Grant Fisheries Extension Program, in partnership with Sea Grant Fisheries Extension programs in Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), conducted a series of fisheries educational workshops centered on regional fisheries management issues—bycatch, marine protected areas, and property rights. The workshops focused on providing information upon which future policy discussions can be based. The project steering committee was comprised of Sea Grant staff and NMFS representatives, with scientists, researchers, managers, environmental advocates, and fishermen as advisors. Workshop information and presentations are below. Files are PDF, unless otherwise noted. We recommend using the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Rights-Based Management Approaches Workshops
The purpose of these workshops was to provide a general overview and comparison of traditional fishery management measures and rights based approaches, focusing on the economic principles involved and examining case studies. Viewpoints from managers and fishing industry representatives were shared concerning the costs and benefits associated with rights-based approaches to fisheries management.

Proceedings of the Rights-Based Management Approaches Workshops available on-line.

• Rights-Based Management Workshop Summary
• Rights-Based Management Approaches Workshop Presentations:
  • "Why Rights-Based Management Is Being Considered" presentation by Robert Pomeroy, Connecticut Sea Grant
  • "Rights-Based Fishery Management: A Focus on Use Rights" presentation by Tony Charles, St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • "Cooperatives in Alaska and Japan" presentation by Andrew Kitts, Economist, NMFS, Woods Hole, MA

Marine Protected Area (MPA) Workshops
These workshops examined MPAs as they relate to fisheries management. Topics discussed include what MPAs are, how they are established, how they function, and what their impacts on fisheries might be.

Updated 10/12/05 Proceedings of the MPA Workshops available on-line:

• Introduction and Part I: Overview of Marine Protected Areas (4.46M pdf)
• Part II: Theoretical Impacts to Fisheries (7.82M pdf)
• Part III: Overview of Existing Protected Areas in New England (4.47M pdf)
• Part IV: Assessment of No-Take Zones (5.79M pdf)
• Part V: Canadian Case Studies (2.16M pdf)
• Part VI: Facilitated Group Sessions (40k pdf)

• MPA Workshop Summary
• MPA Workshop Presentations:
  • Marine Protected Areas: A General Overview by Tracey Morin, URI Department of Marine Affairs
  • Marine Protected Areas and Fishery Management by Paul Howard, executive director, New England Fisheries Management Council
    
  • The Assessment of No-Take Marine Reserves by Dennis Heinemann, Ocean Conservancy
    
  • No-Take Reserves and Fisheries Management by Richard Allen, Fisheries Consultant
    
  • Closed Areas on the Scotian Shelf: Canadian Research Findings by Jonathan Fisher, University of Pennsylvannia, and Kenneth Frank, Bedford Institute of Oceanography
    
  • Use of Large-Scale Closure Areas for Fisheries Management and Biodiversity Protection: Some Observations from New England by Jon Brodziak, Michael Fogarty, and Steven Murawski, NMFS
    

Perspectives on Bycatch in the New England Fisheries: Issues and Solutions
Bycatch—what it is, what’s being done about it, and what still might be done to mitigate its impacts—was the focus of these workshops. Case studies, speaker presentations, and panel/audience discussions considered a working definition of bycatch, the current state of knowledge of bycatch and its impacts in New England fisheries, and efforts under way to resolve bycatch problems through gear technology and management strategies.

Proceedings of the New England Bycatch Workshops available on-line.

• Bycatch Workshops Summary
• Bycatch Workshop Presentations:

Part 1: What is bycatch?
• General overview of what bycatch is, what causes it, and the different types of bycatch presentation by Laura Skrobe, Rhode Island Sea Grant Program in RI, ME, NH and by Tessa Getchis in CT
  
  Part 2: What do we know about the bycatch situation in New England fisheries?
• What is being done to quantify it – a report on the Observer Program presentation by Michael Fogarty, National Marine Fisheries Service in RI and by David Potter in ME, NH, CT
• Observations from fishermen presentation by Chris Brown, president, R.I. Commercial Fishermen’s Association (no presentation available)
• How discard estimates are used in stock assessments and how they effect quotas presentation by Mark Gibson, R.I. Department of Environmental Management in RI, NH
• How discard estimates are used in stock assessment and quota setting presentation by David Simpson in CT
• Finally Fishing for Just Whiting presentation by Daniel Schick in ME
  
  Part 3: Information on solutions – overview of what is being worked on to address the problem in the New England region
• Gear technology – commercial fishing (trawling and fixed gear) presentation by Chris Glass, Senior Scientist, Director Marine Conservation Staff, Manomet Center for Conservation Services (no presentation available)
• Gear technology – hook and line presentation by Mark Malchoff, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, presented by Nancy Balcolm from CT Sea Grant Program in RI
• Management strategies presentation by Paul Howard, Executive Director, New England Fisheries Management Council in RI, ME, NH, and by Eric Smith in CT
• Bycatch Workshop Attendees (RI)

Harvesting Cooperatives Workshop
This day-long workshop covers harvesting cooperatives, which are collective harvesting arrangements implemented through private agreement. The presentations included an overview, a case study, legal aspects, and the perspective of a cooperative member. This page includes workshop agenda and presentations. To learn more, click here.