BY JOHN RICHARDSON

Portland Press Herald

New England's 400-year-old commercial fishing industry is about to plunge into a new world of rules intended to give fishermen a sense of ownership and responsibility.

But not without a fight.

As regulators work out the details for the May 1 launch of a new catch-shares system, many in the industry are pushing back. Dividing the catch among fishing boats, the critics say, will speed the decline of the fleet and replace fishing families with corporate investors.

"Seventy-five percent of the New England groundfish industry will end up out of business," said Amanda Odlin of Scarborough, whose family owns two fishing boats. "It'll privatize (the fleet) into a handful of people."

Fishermen and women from Maine to Rhode Island, and beyond, are expected to gather in Gloucester, Mass., next weekend to protest the new rules and restrictions. A smaller rally is planned for Portland on Wednesday by activists who say the new rules are bad for consumers and the environment, as well as the fishing industry.

Backlash misplaced

But some industry leaders, along with state and federal officials, say the backlash against the new quota system is misplaced. The real problem is the same as it's always been, they argue: too few fish and too many boats.

"It's tough and people are almost at the end of their rope and it's not because of any new management plan, it's that they can't find enough fish to catch," said Glen Libby of Port Clyde, a fishing boat owner and member of the New England Fishery Management Council. "Yeah, there's probably going to be a big shake out, but we're pretty well shook out up here in Maine already."

Maine's groundfishing fleet shrunk from 350 boats to fewer than 75 in the past 15 years, and fishing permits are now held by a much smaller group of owners concentrated in southern Maine and Massachusetts. That consolidation took place under the old regulatory regime, which limited each boat's fishing days as the primary tool to rebuild populations of cod, haddock, flounder and other so-called groundfish.

As of this year, a typical fishing boat was limited to just 39 days at sea. The number was likely to be cut by more than 50 percent for next year.

The New England Fishery Management Council, which develops federal rules, voted in June to try a new approach.

Boats that choose to join groups called sectors will be given shares of fish, or quotas, that they can catch anytime during the year. The amount of fish given each boat depends on its historical catches.

Each sector has to make sure members don't exceed its collective quota, or the whole sector can be shut down.

Fishing boats that haven't joined the sectors will stay under the old rules, although they are expected to end up with a fraction of the fishing days they have now.

Despite concerns that privatizing the fish could lead to consolidation, much of the industry agreed at the time that a catch share system was the only option left.

"If you had tried to stay with days at sea, it would be like 10 or 12 days per boat. How fast would that have shrunk the fleet?" said Jim Odlin, owner of three Portland-based fishing boats and a member of the New England council. Odlin also is Amanda Odlin's brother-in-law.

But the decision to make the switch now means that the new system will begin at the same time industry also takes the deepest cuts in its history. And, as the shift approaches, many in the industry are hoping to send a distress call to whoever hears it.

Many are calling for a buyout of fishing boats as a more humane way of downsizing the fleet. And some want a delay in the new rules to allow more time to work out details, such as who is going to pay for inspectors to keep track of how many fish the boats catch.

"Don't push it through until you know what you're doing," said Allyson Jordan of Portland, whose family's two boats now fish out of Gloucester. Jordan and others blame the new rules on federal officials and on environmental groups who have pushed for and invested in catch shares.

While the new rules are the immediate threat, critics say, only a change in federal law can put a stop to the limits that keep getting tighter and tighter.

"What's driving the bus, regardless of management systems, is this 10-year time frame in the law for rebuilding (fish populations), which really needs to be eliminated," Amanda Odlin said.

Jordan and Amanda Odlin are helping to organize the industry protest next Saturday in Gloucester, outside the regional headquarters for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

A national non-profit group called Food and Water Watch, meanwhile, has launched a lobbying effort in Maine and other states to stop the move to catch shares. Fair Fish Portland, the local branch of that effort, plans to hold a rally at the lobsterman statue at Temple and Middle streets Wednesday at 11 a.m.

"There is going to be a drastic transformation of fisheries management, and there's been very little public discussion," said Nathalie Graham, coordinator of Fair Fish Portland. Privatizing the fish can lead to corporate ownership and bigger, more destructive boats, she said.

Supporters say the catch-shares system is getting unfairly blamed for the industry's dire situation.

"It's a perfect storm of all these changes coming down and the industry is looking, I think, to villainize the sectors, or catch shares," said Terry Stockwell, director of external affairs for the Maine Department of Marine Resources and a New England council member.

Stockwell and others said creating catch-shares is actually a way to keep some families and communities in the industry.

Maine plans to use $1 million in federal money to buy fishing permits - which can cost $100,000 to $500,000 a piece. The state will then divide up the fish quotas from those permits as a way to help Maine boats survive, Stockwell said.

Fisheries around the country, and the world, are now moving to various forms of catch-share programs as a way to rebuild fish populations and preserve the fishing fleets, said Pat Kurkul, regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

"I think this has just been sort of a worldwide movement toward systems that put more of the business decision-making back in the hands of industry," she said.

Kurkul and others said they don't believe the catch shares will be bought up by a few big businesses. And the New England fleet will continue to have both small boats and large boats, they said.

No one denies that more boats will disappear from the fleet, however.

"In this fishery, it's actually inevitable. We have more vessels than the resource can support," Kurkul said. "Consolidation was going to continue no matter what."