University of Massachusetts Amherst I B R R ■ ■ • I . ■ ■ ft S5 ■ Hi ^B El-**" H H ■ ^^H •.T 4 ' ■ j^lj' ' • I ,'1' 1 UMASS/AMHERST $ / ' H301T GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS FEB OS 199S niversity of Massachusetts Depositary Copy MASSACHUSETTS DIVISION OF MARINE FISHERIES Q 1994 MASSACHUSETTS LOBSTER FISHERY STATISTICS by David C. McCarron Fisheries Economist and Thomas B. Hoopes Systems Analyst Information Systems and Fisheries Statistics Project Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Cat Cove Marine Laboratory 92 Fort Avenue Salem, Massachusetts 01970 (508)745-3113 Technical Series 29 A contribution of Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (P.L. 99-659) Project (NA56FI0077) The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Trudy Coxe, Secretary Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement John C. Phillips, Commissioner Division of Marine Fisheries Philip G. Coates, Director Publication No. 1 7726 - 26 - 1 20 - 1 2/95 - .64 - C. R. ^^ Approved by: Philmore Anderson III, State Purchasing Agent Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 with funding from Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries http://archive.org/details/massachusettslob1994mass INTRODUCTION The commercial lobster fishery of Massachusetts is the most economically important fishery conducted within the territorial waters of the Commonwealth. The overall importance of the fishery both in New England and, in recent years, the Mid- Atlantic states, has focused the attention of federal, regional and state fishery managers on this species. In the early 1970's, in an attempt to standardize management of the fishery, the federal and state governments developed an overall lobster fishery management plan under the auspices of the State-Federal Fisheries Management Program. However, with the passage of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976, the New England Fisheries Management Council, in cooperation with the Mid- Atlantic Council, has developed and implemented a management plan for the entire Atlantic Coast lobster fishery. The basis and success of any such plan is an accurate statistical data base. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with funding from the National Marine Fisheries Service, has been collecting annual reports from licensed lobster fishermen since the early 1960's. In the past these data were used primarily for descriptive and informational purposes, and occasionally for management. With the recent emphasis on Federal management, however, these data are needed to provide the respective management agencies with the information they need to protect the interests of Massachusetts' lobstermen and ensure a productive fishery in the Commonwealth.. During the period 1975 - 1980, the number of coastal commercial lobster permits was limited by law to 1300, with an additional ten percent issued to proven hardship cases. In 198 1, a statutory change mandated the establishment of a permanent waiting list from which 100 new permits were issued. Thirty special additional permits were also awarded to full-time commercial fishermen who met certain criteria. From 1982 to 1987, 80 list permits and 20 special additional permits were issued each year. In 1988, the issuance of new coastal permits was suspended. From 1988 to 1993, license transfers were allowed only within the immediate family and if a license was allowed to expire, it was retired. In early 1993, a new regulation was promulgated by DMF establishing broader eligibility criteria and procedures for the transfer of Coastal Commercial Lobster Permits. The number of permits continues to decline from an all time high of 1,865 in 1988 to a more manageable 1,6 10 licenses today. The new system has also allowed for more orderly turnover in the industry. The new transfer procedures provide for transfer to employees (captains, deck hands, etc.) and persons on an established waiting list in addition to transfers within the immediate family. Only those licenses that have been actively fished for four out of the past five years as evidenced by catch reports filed with the Division may be transferred. The person to whom the permit is transferred must document that he/she has at least one year of experience in the commercial lobster pot fishery or two years of experience in commercial fishing. All transferees must be owner/operators of the new business. The status of transfers for calendar year 1994 is summarized on Page 2. This report is the twenty - eighth annual publication of data summarized from catch reports submitted by licensed lobster fishermen. Data were presented in a standardized format through 1979. In 1980, the presentation was changed to reflect a more thorough collection and evaluation of the submitted information. This publication represents the ninth year in which data processing and evaluation have been completely computerized. Areal data presented in this report conform to the National Marine Fisheries Service statistical reporting areas. This report does not, however, cover the scope of the Project's existing database and computational capability. Requests for expanded information, or questions concerning this publication, should be made to the Division's Statistics Project in Salem, MA: (508) 745-3113. This report has been prepared by personnel from the Division of Marine Fisheries Information Systems and Fisheries Statistics Project, funded jointly by the Commonwealth and the National Marine Fisheries Service under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (Public Law 99-659). The preparation of this report would not have been possible without the cooperation of licensed lobstermen who provided the information on their annual reports. Special thanks go to Ann Spires who continues, year after year, to interpret and keypunch, with special care and accuracy, the type of reports that fishermen are likely to fill out, and to Gerald Nash for his help in Oracle development and report generation. Thanks also go to Charlie Anderson, who heads up the project, for his help with system development and upgrades and for his suggestions concerning this publication. These three people are as important to this process as we are. and without them this publication would not be possible. The authors also wish to acknowledge the assistance of Bruce Estrella and Mike Armstrong from our Lobster Biology Project and Eileen Feeney and Kevin Creighton from our permitting office. SOURCE OF DATA "No person may fish for or take lobster in coastal waters or land lobster in the Commonwealth without a permit issued by the Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries" (Chapter 130. Mass. G.L., Section 38). Chapter 130, Mass. G.L., Section 33, requires any person so licensed to file an annual report of their catch by January 3 1 for the preceding calendar year. In 1980, a dual reporting system was established. Commercial lobstermen (coastal, offshore and seasonal(student)) received a detailed catch report form with their license renewal application. This report requests the following information: method of fishing; number and type of gear used; effort data (set-over days, number of trips per month, etc.); pounds of lobster caught; areas fished; principal ports of landing; and information relative to the vessels and traps used in the fishery. Recreational fishermen are asked to report on their license renewal application form the number of lobsters taken during the previous year and the maximum number of traps fished. Project personnel sort, edit, tabulate and interpret data from all reports received. Data presented in this publication are based on catch reports actually received as of November 14, 1995 and are not expanded to represent all of the permits issued in 1994. COASTAL LOBSTER LICENSE TRANSFER During 1993, the Division promulgated regulations to broaden the criteria for the transfer of a coastal lobster license from one individual to another. The intent of the new legislation is to create more options for lobstermen who wish to retire and leave this limited entry fishery. During calendar year 1994, the Division facilitated the transfer of 76 coastal lobster licenses. Twenty six of the transfers went to 'captains' who were authorized to fish another holder's license and had fished that holder's license for at least twelve months prior to transfer. Seventeen transfers were allowed within the holder's immediate family, these transfers would also have been allowed prior to the new regulation. Eleven transfers were made directly from the holder to a sternman with a documented fishing history. Eleven lobstermen advertised their coastal lobster businesses to persons on a waiting list maintained by the Division and subsequently transferred their permits. Twenty-three licenses were forfeited to the Division in 1994; eleven of these coastal lobster permits were issued directly to waiting list applicants while the remaining twelve licenses were permanently retired. EXPLANATION OF TABLES All data presented in this publication are broken down into two basic categories: the first is "territorial" which represents data pertaining to all lobstering activity taking place within the territorial waters (3 mile line) of the Commonwealth (Areas 1-14 on Figure 1A); the "non-territorial" category refers to all data outside those coordinates (Areas 15-25 on Figure IB). In 1990, the statistical reporting map was revised to reflect the territorial / non-territorial breakdown and to conform to the National Marine Fisheries Service's statistical reporting areas. Figures 1A and IB show the statistical reporting areas used by the Division to collect most commercial fisheries data in the Commonwealth. Figure 1A 1994 Massachusetts Lobster Fishery; Statistical Reporting Map Showing Territorial Waters and Outlying Areas nHBciai ramp oqwbs N MASS is ftfiM kmmtti SfMttm iMl— lumffi Emxtirt Offkt of Eifwirmmenitl Aflaw - IMS Scale = 1:1,320.000 0 miles 10 20 30 Description of Boundaries tor Territorial Areas Between Between Areas Boundaries Areas Boundaries 1 &2 Casoe Neck, Ipswich -Territorial Line 11 & 12 70 Degree Imgjtnrie line 2&3 (Tales Pt, Manchester - Territorial I me 12 & 13 41 TVgrw ?n Minute I aigtt"^ I ine 3 &4 Red Rock, Lynn -Territorial Line 13 & 14 Elizabeth Islands and Sow & Pigs Reef 4&5 Strawberry Pt, Cobasset -Territorial line to Territorial Line 5 &6 B5gh Pines Ledge, Plymouth - 120 Foot Line 14 & 15 70 Degree I mgjrude I ine In Territorial I me 6 & 7 Scussett Beach, Sandwich - 120 Foot Line 5. * 7 Nam & 8 120 Foot Line Parts of Area 10 (Nantucket Sound) are federal waters, 8 &9 TO Hpjjw \ r-figitiirlp | me but are managed by DMF. 9 & 10 TO TVgrw 1 nngitivle 1 me 9 & 11 41 Pfgre^ ?o Mtn"fr 1 ongiti"V 1 nv 10 & 12 10 & 13 Wasque Pt, MV -Muskegpt Island, Nantucket Succonnesset Pt, Mashpee -Cape Pogue, MV 1 1 = Territorial Waters \ / > Cashes Leigt Frppemifs leqpK 21 f I / '■/ %-M \ I V / '"A I / f \ ( ' i. * t < ■n \ \ 1 1 1 1 i fill _ \ ■j i i < v \ I I > \ v \ 43 00 00 42 00 00 41 00 00 71 00 00 70 00 00 69 00 00 Figure IB. 1994 Massachusetts Lobster Fishery; Statistical Reporting Map Showing Offshore Areas (which correspond to the National Marine Fisheries Service Statistical Areas) Areas 15 through 25 are the same geographic areas as the National Marine Fisheries Service statistical areas except where the Massachusetts territorial line runs through them. nsBcrcfi phuip copies N MASS IS Mtmathxtettt GCPVfBnV UrafflDKin Sytttm it Exeatm Offkx of Enrmimiti Affair* - 1995 Scale = 1:3,120.000 0 miles 20 40 60 80 — — = Hague line i i = Territorial Waters 44 00 00 43 00 00 42 00 00 41 00 00 y Is-.' J 4 40 00 OC 71 00 00 70 00 00 69 00 00 68 00 00 67 00 00 66 00 00 Below is a brief definition of each lobster license type: Coastal Commercial: Allows the holder to harvest lobster anywhere, most importantly inside territorial waters. Offshore Commercial: Allows the holder to harvest lobster outside territorial waters only. Seasonal Commercial: Allows the holder, if he or she is a student to harvest lobster anywhere, but with a maximum of 25 traps and only during the months of June - September. Non-commercial: Allows the holder to harvest lobster anywhere using SCUBA gear, a maximum of 10 traps or a combination of both and the catch may not be sold. In all cases, the legal minimum size of a harvestable lobster was a 3 1/4 inch carapace length in 1994. Since this publication contains time series information back to 1990, it is important to note the changes in minimum carapace size that have occurred during this time. As promulgated by the New England Fishery Management Council in cooperation with the major lobster producing states of the Atlantic Coast, 1990 was the "off-year" of a 5-year program to increase the minimum legal size from 3 3/16 in 1987 to 3 5/16 inches by January of 1992 through four 1/32 inch increases. The program was suspended at the end of 1990 and the planned increases in 1991 and 1992 were omitted until a study of the economic impact of the program could be evaluated. The gauge increase program has not resumed and has been superseded by an proposed amendment to the lobster Fishery Management Plan to control fishing effort without the use of a gauge increase. Tables presenting number of fishermen, number of pots fished, number and value of boats used in the fishery and total landings statewide, by county and license type, and for each city and town were prepared using the catch reports submitted by commercial fishermen. In keeping with Division policy, some of the data are masked or combined to protect the confidentiality of the individual submitting the report. Data referring to the number of fishermen, number and value of gear, and number and value of boats are presented by the home port of the licensee filing the report. Pounds of lobster harvested are presented by the port of landing reported by the fishermen. Vessel and SCUBA gear values were calculated on the basis of the fishermen's estimate of its present value and the percentage of its use specifically for lobstering. Average values were used when the information was omitted from an individual report. When fishermen reported the number of lobsters taken, rather than poundage, a conversion factor of 1.26 pounds per lobster was used to calculate poundage figures. This figure is based on information collected by the Division's Coastal Lobster Investigations Project. For information on biological (average carapace length, sex ratios, percent of egg-bearing lobster in catch etc.) and other parameters (mortality, exploitation and catch per unit of effort rates) contact this Project in Sandwich, MA at (508) 888-1155. Where tables refer to county, the reader is referred to Figure 10. ISSUED LICENSES AND REPORTING STATUS Table 1 lists the number of commercial and recreational licenses issued in 1994, the dollar value of fees collected and the number that reported catching lobster. There were 2,349 commercial lobster licenses issued during 1994: 1,612 coastal, 648 offshore and 89 seasonal. Non-commercial licenses issued totaled 1 1,486, a breakdown of their reporting status and landings can be found in Table 6. As of November 14, 1995, a total of 91 licensed commercial lobstermen (3.9 percent) failed to file a catch report with the Division. Of the 2,258 commercial fishermen who reported, 535 or 24 percent claimed they did not catch any lobster during 1994. The number of coastal licenses issued continues to decline since a 1988 moratorium on the issuance of new licenses. An annual decrease of approximately two percent per year continued in 1994 driven by fishermen leaving the fishery and the Division's policy to retire half of these licenses received through attrition. The number of offshore licenses issued dropped approximately nine percent in 1994. Overall compliance with catch reporting by the offshore fleet appears to be improving. Student commercial licenses have increased in number by over 70 percent since 1991. Table 1. 1994 Massachusetts Lobster Fishery; Reporting Status of Licenses Issued License Type (Fee) Coastal Commercial ($ 260) Offshore Commercial ($ 260) Seasonal (Student) Commercial ($ 65) Non-Commercial ($ 40) Total 13,835 $1,052,825 8,885 64% 2,038 15% 2,912 21% Licenses Licensing Reported Reported Not Issued Revenue "Catching Lobster" "No Lobster Catch" Reporting 1,612 $419,120 1,194 74% 401 25% 17 1% 648 $168,480 480 74% 119 18% 49 8% 89 $5,785 49 55% 15 17% 25 28% 1 1,486 $459,440 7,162 62% 1,503 13% 2,821 25% Table 2. Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery; Selected Licensing Information, 1990 -1994 Percent Five Coastal Licenses 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Year Change Issued 1,727 1,682 1,647 1,627 1,612 -6.66% % Change -2.61 -2.08 -1.21 -0.92 "Caught Lobster" 1,281 1,230 1,185 1,195 1,194 % Change -1.41 -1.61 2.08 0.85 "Did Not Catch Lobster" 420 437 445 412 401 % Change 6.83 3.99 -6.28 -1.76 Not Reporting 26 15 17 20 17 % Change -40.76 15.74 19.09 -14.21 Percent Not Reporting 1.5% 0.9% 1.0% 1.2% 1.1% Offshore Licenses Issued 738 717 710 711 648 -12.20% % Change -2.85 -0.98 0.14 -«.««5 "Caught Lobster" 417 439 439 479 480 % Change 8.36 0.99 &P6 9.95 "Did Not Catch Lobster" 207 208 196 148 119 % Change 3.43 -4.84 -24.50 -ii. 7« Not Reporting 114 70 75 84 49 % Change -36.80 8.20 11.84 -36.00 Percent Not Reporting Seasonal (Student) Licenses 15.4% 9.8% 10.6% 11.8% 7.6% Issued 67 52 59 74 89 32.84% % Change -22.39 13.46 25.42 2ft 2 7 "Caught Lobster" 40 29 29 AA 49 % Change -6.59 -11.86 51.72 7/.J6 "Did Not Catch Lobster" 6 8 9 8 15 % Change 71.79 -0.85 -11.11 87.50 Not Reporting 21 15 19 22 25 % Change -7.97 11.64 15.79 /J.6-/ Percent Not Reporting 31.3% 28.8% 32.2% 29.7% 28.1% Note: All annual percentage changes are normalized to the number of licenses issued for each license type in each year. Percent five year change is absolute. LANDINGS AND VALUE In 1994, 16,174,818 pounds of lobster were reported landed by commercial lobstermen in Massachusetts, a 12. 1 percent increase from 1993. Based on an average price of $2.91 per pound, the commercial catch was valued at $47,068,720, also a 12. 1 percent increase. Figure 2 shows the weighted ex-vessel price for 1994 as derived from audits of lobstermen's records. The weighted average price of $2.91 is the same average ex- vessel price paid in 1993. (Weighted price means that each price is weighted by the number of pounds that were paid at that price instead of taking a flat average of all prices). Regional differences in price are typical with higher prices usually paid south of Boston due to the availability of larger lobsters off Cape Cod and offshore . The coastal license holders reported landing 13,135,494 pounds, or 82.1 percent of the commercial catch, up fifteen percent from 1993. Of the 16,174,818 pounds of lobster landed commercially, 10,498,3 16 were reported taken within the territorial waters of the Commonwealth. In total pounds of lobster landed, Essex County continues to be ranked number one, Plymouth County second and Barnstable County third. See Table 3 for a breakdown of pounds landed and number of fishermen by license type and county and Table 4 for a five-year comparison of selected landings and effort statistics. Gloucester was the number one port in total pounds landed followed by Boston, Plymouth and Sandwich respectively. In total numbers of active commercial fishermen, Essex County ranked first with 594, Plymouth County second with 309 and Bristol County third with 280. Among the cities and towns of the Commonwealth. Gloucester ranked first in active fishermen followed by New Bedford, Boston and Plymouth, respectively. See Tables 3 and 5. (the shaded areas in Table 5 refer to the top 10 cities in at least one of the two categories: pounds landed and number of fishermen). 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S X NO* I-* es tfl H 2 o •< fa i bj c fa.' ft « c m c 51 > r- fa V 2 fa c < 1 1 i ) J > SI fa) 0 : (4 IS - - S1 ll O 03 c 3 £ - «• h « e • 2 .2 o a cq fc ft. > c si's S -2 o « e a* ll o « 111 J O — o P b « N .2 5^£ n "O c = o 01 g fa. ft. > h £ » © as s j 5 fa. a. > a to k O E-. t3 B 01 ^N E « S 6 1 a J- 5 3 .2 o os "o u -a § o + : b5 S ft. > Q fa. ft. > ft. > g fa. ft. > § fa. ft. > ft. > o fai ft. > * Table 4. Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery; Selected Landings (Lbs.) and Effort Statistics, 1990-94 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Percent Five Year Change Total Landings Percent Change 16,567,377 15,986,991 -3.50 14,967,260 -6.38 14,425,864 -3.62 16,174,818 12.12 -2.37 Total Traps Fished Percent Change 458,280 485,924 6.03 477,836 -1.66 467,180 -2.23 488,945 4.66 6.69 Total Value Percent Change $40,755,747 $43,644,485 7.09 $44,602,435 2.19 $41,979,264 -5.88 $47,068,720 12.12 15.49 TERRITORIAL (Inside 3 Miles) Landings (see note below) Percent Change 12,260,805 11,001.384 -10.27 9,658,545 -12.21 9,124,412 -5.53 10,498,316 15.06 -14.37 Value Percent Change $30,161,580 $30,033,778 -0.42 $28,782,464 -4.17 $26,552,039 -7.75 $30,550,100 15.06 1.29 Trap Landings 12,223,266 10,977,053 -10.20 9.626,941 -12.30 9,061,639 -5.87 10,430,833 15.11 -14.66 Traps Fished 385,201 397,951 3.31 376,901 -5.29 361,213 -4.16 365,821 1.28 -5.03 Non-Trap Landings (Gillnet, Diver) 37,539 24,331 -35.18 31,604 29.89 38,948 23.24 40,583 4.20 8.11 NON-TERRITORIAL (Outside 3 Miles) Landings (see note below) Percent Change 4,306,572 4,985,607 15.77 5,308,715 6.48 5,301,452 -0.14 5,676,503 7.07 31.81 Value Percent Change $10,594,167 $13,610,707 28.47 $15,819,971 16.23 $15,427,225 -2.48 $16,518,624 7.07 55.92 Trap Landings 3,616,544 4,166,974 15.22 4,296,329 3.10 4,315,675 0.45 4,634,960 7.40 28.16 Traps Fished 73,079 87,973 20.38 100,935 14.73 105,967 4.99 123,124 16.19 68.48 Non-Trap Landings (Gillnet, Trawler) 690,028 818,633 18.64 1,012,387 23.67 985,168 -2.69 1,041,542 5.72 50.94 Average Price ($) / Pound Percent Change 2.46 2.73 10.98 2.98 9.16 2.91 -2.35 2.91 0.00 Ave. Lbs. / Trap-Haul Percent Change 0.7336 0.7008 -4.47 0.6309 -9.97 0.6554 3.88 0.6976 6.44 Ave. Lbs. / Trap Percent Change 34.56 31.17 -9.83 29.14 -6.50 28.63 -1.73 30.81 7.61 10 Table 5. 1994 Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery Number of Active Commercial Fishermen and Landings by Homeport Does Not Include Seasonal Licenses FISHERMEN POUNDS POUNDS NON- TOTAL TOWN NUMBER RANK TERRITORIAL TERRITORIAL POUNDS PERCENT RANK BARNSTABLE- YARMOUTH 13 27 44,906 361,662 406,568 2.53 15 BEVERLY 46 11 528,946 199,198 728,144 1,177,277 4.53 7.33 6 2 BOSTON 109 3 858,659 318,619 BOURNE 10 29 55,623 0 55,623 0.35 35 CHATHAM 47 9 137,347 151,903 289,250 1.80 19 CHILMARK 19 24 57,018 186,207 243,224 1.51 23 COHASSET 38 14 487,833 86,764 574,597 3.58 11 DANVERS 14 26 64,034 3,122 67,155 0.42 33 DARTMOUTH 13 27 20,603 4,700 25,303 0.16 42 DENNIS-BREWSTER 22 22 113,764 930 1 14,694 0.71 29 DUXBURY 7 32 73,485 0 73,485 0.46 30 ESSEX 4 34 9,510 0 9,510 0.06 47 FATRHAVEN FALMOUTH 47 23 10 21 155,781 30,193 567,053 722,834 4.50 0.25 111 37 9,758 39,950 GLOUCESTER 232 1 1,045,919 1,058,803 2,104,721 13.11 1 HARWICH 4 34 16,891 99,828 116,719 0.73 27 HTNGHAM 28 18 479,274 79,138 558,412 3.48 12 HULL 30 16 339,417 29,121 368,538 2.29 16 IPSWICH-ROWLEY 25 20 46,300 156 46,456 0.29 36 KINGSTON 7 32 29,235 0 29,235 0.18 41 LYNN 8 31 215,429 11,629 227,058 1.41 24 MANCHESTER 26 19 211,215 42,973 254,188 1.58 22 MARBLEHEAD MARSHFBELD 49 68 8 5 406,109 37,856 443,965 2.76 14 5.95 5 652,492 303,472 955,964 MATTAPOISETT 9 30 62,737 7,739 70,475 0.44 32 NAHANT 23 21 290,979 19,143 310,121 1.93 18 NANTUCKET 1VTT7VI/ Dl?f^PAT>T\ 7 32 17,346 41,311 58,657 0.37 34 IN.LW DhDtUKD NEWBURYPORT-NEWBURY 186 23 2 21 112,186 49,810 502,366 21,766 614,552 71,576 3.83 0.45 10 31 ORLEANS-EASTHAM PLYMOUTH PROVINCETOWN 25 on 20 A 81,402 OO J 1 CA 33,343 en oo 114,744 1 fiJJ OQ1 0.71 28 yv 42 1 12 774, lo1* 143,873 27,296 I,U44,77Z 171,169 O.jI 1.07 25 QUINCY 9 30 26,838 11,846 38,684 0.24 38 REVERE ROCKPORT 12 58 28 1 253,044 7,476 260,521 1.62 21 444,378 48,171 492,549 3.07 13 SALEM 9 30 6,677 703 7,379 0.05 48 SALISBURY 8 31 15,591 250 15,841 0.10 46 SANDWICH SAUGUS SCITUATE-NORWELL 41 33 61 13 15 6 554,313 428,024 982,337 6.12 4 328,056 426 166 7,111 260 179 335,166 686 345 2.09 4 27 17 8 SWAMPSCOTT 29 17 259,218 9,464 268,681 "t. it 1 1.67 20 HSBURY-EDGARTOWN-OAK BLUFFS 16 25 11,395 7,217 18,612 0.12 44 TRURO 8 31 17,630 0 17,630 0.11 45 WAREHAM-MARION 8 31 38,166 0 38,166 0.24 39 WELLFLEET 6 33 29,907 4,753 34,660 0.22 40 WESTPORT-SWANSEA-FALL RTVER 47 9 92,194 529,108 4,717 621,302 23,844 3.87 0.15 9 43 WEYMOUTH 6 33 19,126 WTNTHROP 20 23 121,876 7,351 129,227 0.80 26 STATEWIDE TOTAL 1,665 10,477,050 5,583,048 16,060,098 100.00 OUTOFSTATE 11 8,824 92,955 101,779 Shaded areas denote towns which rank in the top 1 0 for number of fishermen or total landings or both. 11 RECREATIONAL LOBSTER FISHERY Recreational statistics are shown in Table 6. Licenses issued in 1994 totaled 1 1,321, up slightly from 1993, with 8,795 or 78 percent, reporting that they fished for lobster. In general, reporting rates improved slightly and the percentage of license holders fishing mcreased. Landings rose by about two percent from 1993. The number of traps fished recreationally rose slightly but, have still not recovered from a 14 percent drop in 1992. The number of hours dived has continued to decline from 1992 levels. Landings amounted to 393,805 pounds or only 2.4 percent of the commercial landings. The concern that recreational fishermen have a detrimental effect on the resource is often expressed by the commercial sector. These figures would suggest that this is probably not the case. It should be noted that those individuals who did not report, were not able to renew their recreational license for 1995. One quarter of the licenses in the recreational fishery have turned over in the past year; historically, this turn-over rate is not unusual. Table 6. 1994 Massachusetts Recreational Lobster Fishery; License Status and Harvest Information License Type: Diver Diver/Pot Potman Total Percent 1) Number of Licenses Issued in 1994 4,079 3,401 3,841 11,321 2) Number That Reported 2,976 2,743 3,076 8,795 77.69% a) Total Number That Fished 2,380 2,256 2,577 7,213 63.71% b) Total Number That Did Not Fish 596 487 499 1,582 13.97% 3) Number That Did Not Report 1,151 683 822 2,526 22.31% Percent Change 4) Number of Lobsters Reported Landed 51,392 86,455 174,201 312,048 from 1993 Pounds of Lobsters (Calculated)* 64,857 109,106 219,842 393,805 2.48% 5) Number Pots Fished 7,290 19,816 27,106 3.98% 6) Number of Hours Diving 35,857 31,503 67,360 -5.56% * Based on 1 .26 Pounds per Lobster. 12 TERRITORIAL FISHERY Territorial landings by commercial fishermen were concentrated in the months of July through November when 82 percent of the yearly harvest was landed. A typical yearly scenario is for catches to increase sometime in mid to late July and peak in August and September. Water temperatures rise during this time inducing growth and subsequent recruitment of previously sub-legal lobsters into the legal size category. The 1994 season was notably different because October landings were quite large and the volume of landings in May- July were smaller than in past years. See Table 7 and Figure 3. The greatest harvest of lobster from territorial waters was from the Boston Harbor vicinity (including outlying areas out to the territorial line or Area 4 on Figure 1A), where approximately 31% of the state's territorial harvest was caught. This far outweighs any of the other designated areas in terms of landings. Table 7. 1 994 Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery Percent Monthly Territorial Harvest by License Type Month Coastal Seasonal January 1.06 0.00 February 0.48 0.00 March 0.61 0.00 April 2.02 0.00 May 5.19 0.00 June 4.98 16.14 July 10.65 44.48 August 15.53 30.08 September 19.06 9.31 October 22.97 0.00 November 13.35 0.00 December 4.10 0.00 Total 100.00 100.00 Figure 3. 1994 Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery Total Monthly Territorial Harvest for Coastal and Seasonal License Types o 1.5 C/3 •c O -<— < 'B 0.5 0 Total Territorial Harvest = 10,399,980 lbs. 22.94% 1.06% 2.02% 0.48% 0.60% Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Month 13 Table 8. 1 994 Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery Percent Territorial Harvest by Area Fished by License Type Area Fished Coastal Seasonal 1 1.31 1.71 2 12.96 10.22 3 14.50 1.54 4 31.01 5.79 5 11.22 1.09 6 9.23 8.18 7 5.19 22.15 8 5.77 0.00 9 2.26 6.17 10 0.33 25.07 11 0.00 0.00 12 0.72 9.12 13 1.77 0.23 14 3.73 8.74 Total Pounds 10,399,980 12,442 Territorial landings were up fifteen percent in 1994. Many areas outside of Boston Harbor saw notable increases in their percentage share of territorial landings including; Cape Cod Bay, the North & South Shores, and Buzzards Bay. See Figure 1A for the map of fishing areas and Figure 4 and Table 8 for a complete breakdown by area for each license type and month. Offshore license landings are not shown in Figures 3 and 4 because license holders of this type cannot harvest lobsters within territorial waters. Offshore landings are more spread out during the year with offshore potmen landings peaking in autumn and mobile gear landings peaking in the winter months. Figure 5 shows the distribution of all lobster landings by statistical reporting area. to C o CO Figure 4. 1994 Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery Total Territorial Harvest for Coastal and Seasonal License Types by Area Fished 3 3 - S 2 - 30.98% 14.49% Total Territorial Harvest = 10,399,980 lbs. 5.21% 12Z!/o 2.26% o 1,770/0 ... $881 ^ ■ '-' v» / U BBBBBBBBDB RftfiflftflftfflMH 3.74% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Area 14 Figure 5. 1994 Massachusetts Lobster Fishery; Landings by Statistical Reporting Area - (See Figures 1A & IB for Reference to Reporting Areas) uhbctcb ihup cook N M ASS is MimxrhMKttt *-,tvgrirpha Syitnti Ml— kmtttt Eimtttm Office ef Ennnmmexiol Affttn - 199S Scale = 1:3,120,000 0 miles 20 40 60 80 1JEGEND 1 -500,000 LBS 500,001 - 1,000,000 LBS 1,000,001 - 2,000,000 LBS 2,000,001 - 3,000,000 IBS 3,000,001 - 4,000,000 LBS 44 00 00 43 00 00 42 00 00 41 00 00 40 00 00 71 00 00 70 00 00 69 00 00 68 00 00 67 00 00 66 00 00 15 CATCH RATES The average catch per trap haul for coastal lobstermen was .6484 pounds, an increase from 1993. For traps fished one set-over day the average was, .4732; for those fished two days, .6217; for three days, .6328; and for four days, .6483. See Figure 6 for catch effort by set-over day. Figures 7 and 8 show the average catch per trap-haul - set-over day for area fished and month, where set-over day is factored mto the effort. The average catch per trap haul - set-over day for 1994 was . 1885, a three percent decrease from 1993 and a fifteen percent decrease from 1991. Overall these figures should be categorized as "estimates" since, in many cases, fishermen will estimate the number of traps hauled per trip for each month. If a fisherman leaves this information blank, the catch report is returned for corrections. If the combination of maximum traps, set-over days, average traps hauled per trip and number of trips per month is out of range for a particular month, the information is interpolated by Division statistics personnel and then factored into the analysis. Figure 6. 1994 Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery Catch per Unit of Effort by Set-Over Day for Coastal Potmen and All Potmen i i & & S-H Oh on T3 1.5 1 - o 0.5 0 Coastal License Potmen All Potmen - — #— y \ — <$•£ ^g'sk / \ ^ E-, o I -t-> O i ■»-> C/3 3 a i 2 g, u a, CO T3 O Figure 8. 1994 Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery Catch per Unit of Effort for All License Types by Area Fished 0.3 - 0.2 0.1 0 6 7 8 9 Area Fished 10 11 12 13 14 17 FISHING GEAR, VESSELS AND VALUE In the commercial fishery, traps were valued at $27,147,717, diving gear at $25,371, and power and non-power boats at $5 1,646,414, yielding a total gear value of $78,819,502. Combined with the ex-vessel value of lobster sold, $47,068,264, gives a total fishery value of $125,888,222. See Tables 9, 10 and 11. Overall, 77% of the traps fished in the commercial fishery were wire framed, with 22% being wooden framed and less than 1% categorized as "other". Average value (including warp and buoy) ranged anywhere from $28.26 to $104.55, with an overall average of $55.79. See Table 9. Table 9. 1994 Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery Trap Types Fished and Value by License Type Total Percent Coastal Offshore Seasonal Trap Type of Total Wooden Framed Traps 86,630 19,154 49 105,833 21.75% Value $4,289,477 $1,669,774 $2,383 $5,961,634 Value/Trap $49.51 $87.17 $49.12 $56.33 Wire Framed Traps 338,256 36,306 979 375,540 77.18% Value $17,560,000 $3,259,291 $27,653 $20,846,944 Value/Trap $51.91 $89.77 $28.26 $55.51 Other Trap Types 4,007 1,187 25 5,219 1.07% Value $214,290 $124,100 $750 $339,140 Value/Trap Total for License Type Value Value/Trap $53.48 $104.55 $30.00 $64.98 428,893 56,647 1,052 486,592 $22,063,767 e« fl«"i 1 fiS c-in 78^ $27,147,717 $55.79 3J)UJJ)1 oj 3.7U, /OO $51.44 $89.20 $29.26 Value of trap includes warp and buoy. These figures include out-of-state fishermen. 18 © a. 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S a cu z 20 VALIDITY OF DATA Each year 150 coastal license holders are selected and audited for the records they used to complete the catch portion of their catch report. The Division does this to assess the amount of error involved in the reporting process. Selection is done randomly except when fishermen fail an audit. In these cases, they are audited again the following year. The audit was first instituted in 1977 for the 1976 catch reports. Over the last five years the lobstermen selected for audit reported landing 6,928,03 1 pounds. The audit of their records revealed a harvest of 6,973,289 pounds or a difference of 0.65 percent. Last year the fishermen selected for audit reported harvesting 1,506,942 pounds of lobster on their 1994 catch reports. The audit of their actual records showed total landings of 1,544,983 pounds, a difference of 38,041 pounds or -2.52 percent. Twenty-one of the randomly selected fishermen have yet to respond to the audit request. Figure 9 shows the distribution of the percent difference between the selected fishermen's reported catch and their audited records. In general, reported landings are very well documented by dealer receipts and/or personal records, especially by the so-called "high-liners" in the fishery. Most of the lobstermen have had licenses for several years and know what is required in terms of reporting their fishing activities in addition to the value of accurate reporting in the development of management plans. They also know that their reported information is kept strictly confidential and published only in aggregate form. These factors all contribute to a conscientious and responsible reporting constituency. Figure 9. Massachusetts Commercial Lobster Fishery Frequency Distribution of the Percent Difference Between Fishermen's Reported Catch and Their Audited Records D\J Overall Percent 40 - Difference = -2.52% Over-reported ^30 c cr Under-reported £ 20 10 - 0 ■ ■■ it IidILIi lnLi.i 1 1 -? W r -60 -40 Number of Fishermen Audited = 123 -20 0 20 Percent Difference 40 60 21 Figure 10. Coastal Map of Massachusetts Showing County Boundaries — — County Border Town Border Territorial Reporting Areas 22 c o •H -H U Ui ai 4-> r-t ■*■• i— 1 111 O l/l a 3 i/i U ■H ■n c >. i/i m St. in E Ti ti n =i Su E o •a U j=i © Su- o ■H 4- •H it: Ci -J O o c o ■H >- X > ai •rt •H j-„ •a a C c: s