VI. A View from Many Angles

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#999933" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04a006e0ddwnfv.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Gloucester Community Development Corporation                                            </B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gloucester Community Development Corpora"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pelagics Study"><U><B>Pelagics Study</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" background="052a0c00esnpes.png"> <div> <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pelagics Study"><U>Pelagics Study</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Table of Contents"><U>Table of Contents</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Acknowledgments"><U>Acknowledgments</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="I. Executive Summary"><U>I. Executive Summary</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="II. Mission and Goals of GCDC"><U>II. Mission and Goals of GCDC</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="III. Mission and Goals of Study"><U>III. Mission and Goals of Study</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IV. Administrative Report"><U>IV. Administrative Report</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="V. Gloucester Fisheries"><U>V. Gloucester Fisheries</U></A></div> <div> <B>VI.  A View from Many Angles</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="VII. Conceptual Program of Action"><U>VII. Conceptual Program of Action</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="VIII. Fisheries Management"><U>VIII. Fisheries Management</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IX. Gloucester Fish Inc. as the Seed of "><U>IX. Gloucester Fish Inc. as the Seed of a New Model of Coastal Fisheries  Management</U></A></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0d27b330.png" border=0 width="123" height="51" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> VI.  A View from Many Angles</div> <div> <B>        A Complex Set of Issues</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>This section of the Interim Report is divided into three parts. The first part offers a summary of documents that describe the complex set of issues surrounding the establishment of the proposed surimi plant; the second part reproduces the documents themselves; and the third part offers a brief analysis of international trade data.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>a.  Summary of Attached Documents</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>For the establishment of a surimi plant in Gloucester, we have to be aware and respectfully address a very complex set of issues. Rather than analyzing the issues directly in this Interim Report, we are providing copies of four articles that have recently appeared in the printed media and a document entitled "On Reauthorization Provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act." These documents deal with a variety of issues that are of interest to the fisheries industries and stand at the core of our program of action. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The effects of the proposed surimi plant are many-sided. Once we determine the likely size of the plant, we can begin to make estimates of its probable effects on the local economy. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>For the time being, we want only to emphasize one effect that is not generally taken into consideration: the current negative impact of imports of seafood on the balance of trade. We will eventually attempt to determine the effect of the proposed surimi plant on that context. We will do a more in-depth investigation of the issue in the final report. The tables included here are meant to let the reader have a glimpse of the problem. Table 1 shows that there is an enormous imbalance between our exports and imports of fishery products and that imports are growing exponentially. Tables 2 and 3 show that fisheries products occupy the 13th - if not the 9th -- place in the list of products that account most for the trade deficit. As it can be seen from the last article attached to this section of the report, there are serious consequences to the balance of trade deficit that go much beyond mere financial accounts. The article is by Franco Modigliani and Robert M. Solow, Nobel prize winners in economics and professors emeriti at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The article is entitled "America Is Borrowing Trouble," and was published in the New York Times, April 9, 2001, p. A21.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>A brief summary of the attached articles is as follows: </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I.     The first article is by Pat Kurkul, the regional administrator of NOAA, Fisheries Northeast.  The article is entitled "Managed fisheries make more fish," and was published in the Gloucester Daily Times, March 17, 2001, p. A4. The article addresses the need for management of fish stocks, primarily the management of traditional species such as cod and other groundfish species.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>This article is important for a number of reasons:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>1.     If our plan for the utilization of the pelagics comes to fruition, some pressure will be lifted from the groundfish stocks. Hence it will be somewhat easier to set up and enforce regulations that affect the traditional species;</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>2.     The article articulates the need for the use of new technologies in the fisheries. If our plans for the creation of Gloucester Fish Inc. come to fruition, the firm will be built from the ground up with the understanding of the need to use modern technologies - in as many fields as possible;</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>3.     The article also emphasizes the need for cooperative research. Again, Gloucester Fish Inc. is being planned to work in close collaboration with existing research facilities. For the time being we are working closely with the University of Massachusetts Marine Station, a research facility that is located in Gloucester, and we are searching for other sources for technical assistance. We have already received assurances from Ms. Kurkul that her office stands ready to lend any reasonable amount of assistance we might request.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>II.     The second article is by Vivian Newman and Lee Crockett, respectively chair of the Sierra Club's National Marine Wildlife and Habitat Committee and executive director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network. The article is entitled "Action is needed on our depleted fisheries," and was published in the Boston Globe, April 21, 2001, p. 15.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The article is important because it shows another side, the side of environmentalists, from which pressures in fisheries management are originating today. Versus Pat Kurkul's cautious optimism, there is Newman and Crockett's call for more strict regulations forbidding fishing by fishermen.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Pat Kurkul's assessment is that "We have more groundfish today than we did in 1996, when the rebuilding plan started. There are more groundfish revenues today than in 1996, caught more efficiently, because we are managing better than we were."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Newman and Crockett's assessment is that "In the Atlantic, the picture looks especially bleak."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     </B></div> <div> <B>  </B></div> <div> <B> III.      The third article is by John L. Sutherland, a very respected local figure with much experience in and knowledge of the fisheries industries. The article is entitled "Fishing regulation requires cooperation," and was published in the Gloucester Daily Times, April 28, 2001, p. A4.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The article is important because it shows the golden mean in accordance with which most people reason. Sutherland's position is that "We seem to be at an impasse as to how much regulation is enough, and on the other hand, what is too little." His plea is: "There has to be a great deal more of serious dialogue and work together for the greater good of the industry." </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>IV.     The view of a local fisheries association point of view is provided by the attached document entitled "Testimony of Angela Sanfilippo, President, Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association, Member of the Board, Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership, on Reauthorization Provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Before the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans and Fisheries on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation," April 10, 2000. The document summarizes the recommendations for different forms of fisheries management with the following words; "The recommendations made by the MFP… will not fade away. They will emerge again in different forms submitted by different groups. They will prevail because fishermen throughout the country will know that ultimately these proposals are good for the fish and the fishermen."</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>V.     The fourth article is by Dexter Van Zile. The article is entitled "Northeast Herring: New market opportunity languishes as delays hamper foreign venture," and was published in the National Fisherman, May 2001, p. 18.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The article is important because it establishes two important points. First, it stresses that, "While there's been some concern about herring abundance close to shore in the Gulf of Main, fishermen and scientists agree that offshore, the resource can sustain a more robust harvest than what it's been subject to in recent years." The articles proves the point by reporting that "This winter, Bright (Bill Bright, the owner of the fishing vessel Retriever) has seen herring schools 20 miles long stretching from Cape May to Hudson Canyon." The point is summarized in these numbers: "Last year, fishermen landed 107,387 metric tons, not quite 50 percent of the total allowable catch of 224,000 metric tons, and it doesn't look like harvest will increase any more in 2001, despite a TAC increase to 250,00 metric tons."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The second very important point that the article makes through the words of Dave Ellenton, president of World Wide Trading, is this: "The fishery isn't going to grow to its potential until we get a market for the product," (Dave) says. "Until shoreside facilities come in, we need an outside market."</B></div> <div> <B>b. Copy of Documents</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The attached documents are:</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>1.     Pat Kurkul, "Managed fisheries make more fish," Gloucester Daily Times, March 17, 2001, p. A4. </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>2.     Vivian Newman and Lee Crockett, "Action is needed on our depleted fisheries," Boston Globe, April 21, 2001, p. 15.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>3.     John L. Sutherland, "Fishing regulation requires cooperation," Gloucester Daily Times, April 28, 2001, p. A4.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>4.     "Testimony of Angela Sanfilippo, President, Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association, Member of the Board, Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership, on Reauthorization Provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Before the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans and Fisheries on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation," April 10, 2000. </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>5.     Dexter Van Zile, "Northeast Herring: New market opportunity languishes as delays hamper foreign venture," National Fisherman, May 2001, p. 18.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>c. A Brief Analysis of the Incidence of Imports of Fisheries Products on the Balance of Payments Deficit</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The attached Table 1 summarizes the figures for imports and exports of fisheries products from 1991 to the year 2000. The trends are clear: exports of edible fishery products declined; exports of nonedible products doubled in dollar value; and the imports of both edible and nonedible fishery products grew exponentially.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>These data become more meaningful if they are put in relationship with all other import figures. Then a revealing fact emerges. As it can be seen from Table 2, imports of edible and nonedible fishery products rank 13 on the list of items that contribute most to the national trade deficit. If import categories are classified slightly differently, namely by putting together items that perform a similar function, the rank jumps to 9. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>These data are still meaningless, unless the long term potential negative effects of the trade deficit on the health of the social and economic condition of the country is put in high relief. This analysis is provided in the attached article by two Nobel laureates in economics, professors Franco Modigliani and Robert M. Solow.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In the final report, we will look at the proposed surimi plant from the point of view of international trade deficit and we will try to estimate its potential impact for imports substitution and exports expansion. For the time being we only wish to emphasize that this impact enlarges the range of potential benefits of our program from the local to the national scene.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <B>Table 1</B></div> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Table 2</B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Table 3</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>1     Vehicles     $146,202,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>2     Machinery: Electrical, General, Specialized     88,592,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>3     Clothing     56,413,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>4     Television, VCR, etc.     50,959,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>5     Crude Oil     50,662,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>6     Chemicals: Organic, Plastics, Medical     44,678,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>7     Toys, Games, Sporting Goods     18,991,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>8     Scientific Instruments     17,641,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>9     Edible & Non-edible Fishery Products*     17,039,582,000</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>10     Furniture & Parts     16,178,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>11     Metal Manufactures, i.e.     14,406,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>12     Petroleum Preparations     14,160,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>13     Footwear     14,068,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>14     Textile yarn, Fabric     13,575,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>15     Paper and Paperboard     13,407,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>16     Iron & Steel mill products     13,369,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>17     Gems / Diamonds     9,902,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>18     Vegetables & Fruits     9,261,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>19     Cork, Wood, Lumber     8,925,000,000</B></div> <div> <B>20     Fish & Preparations     8,902,000,000</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Ranking of Fishery Products on Balance of Payments Deficit Account, 1999</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>     Source: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Series FT900</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>* Source: NMFS, Current Fisheries Statistics No. 2002-2, Imports and exports of fishery products annual summary, 2000.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Prepared by: Gloucester Community Development Corporation, May 2001</B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>