Sector Management in New England

  • Collection DOI:
    Principal Investigator:
    Lisa L. Colburn
  • This project documents fishery management related changes in individuals, households, and communities in New England.

Interviewee Collection Sort ascending Description Interviewer Date of Interview Location of Interview Affiliation
Mary Ellen Brown Sector Management in New England

Mary Brown, 52, is married to commercial fisherman Chris Brown who fishes out of Point Judith, Rhode Island. Mr. Brown has been involved in fisheries since he was a little boy and currently fishes inshore, predominantly for groundfish. Mrs. Brown?s husband is a member of sector 5. She believes that sector management allows him to catch fish more economically and predictably.

Azure Cygler Narragansett, RI NOAA
Henry McCarthy Sector Management in New England

Henry McCarthy, 47, operates a fishing vessel out of Scituate, Massachusetts. He fished for 25 years, most recently cod and haddock, but left fishing 2 years ago due to a low allocation that made running a business for profit infeasible. Mr. McCarthy remains an inactive sector member and is still active in the fishing community on the board of directors of sector 10 and at the permit bank. Mr. McCarthy has a negative view of sector management and would replace it with Days at Sea and a rolling clock, given the opportunity.

Angela Wilson Duxbury, MA NOAA
Steven Wilkes Sector Management in New England

Steven Wilkes, 65, is a retired commercial fisherman out of Newport, Rhode Island. Mr. Wilkes fished with his grandfather as a boy and began fishing commercially at age 18, buying his first boat at age 29 after working as a teacher and deckhand for a few years. Though he in no longer an active fisherman, he still lives on his boat and maintains a permit in the common pool. Mr. Wilkes did mostly day trips as a fisherman, but worked patrolling telecommunications cables prior to retiring from fisheries. He does not have a positive impression of sectors or government involvement in business.

Azure Cygler Newport, RI NOAA
Timothy Caldwell Sector Management in New England

Tim Caldwell, 51, a fisherman currently operating out of Point Judith, RI began fishing at age 18. Mr. Caldwell is a member of sector 10. He had 2 vessels when sectors began, but has since switched to gillneting for monkfish and sells his low groundfish allocation. He saw a drastic decrease in income as a result of a low allocation and had to sell his second vessel. Mr. Caldwell has a negative view of sectors, stating that sectors make the future uncertain for small fishermen, like him and his son.

Angela Wilson Narragansett, RI NOAA
Danny Murphy Sector Management in New England

Danny Murphy, 39, is a commercial fisherman out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Mr. Murphy's father started tuna fishing later in his life, eventually owning a trawler which piqued perked his son's interest in fishing as a profession. Mr. Murphy began working on his father's trawler at around 16 years of age and would fish for groundfish and also dredge occasionally for scallops and sea urchins. Currently, Mr. Murphy owns a 36-foot trawler and fishes inshore for groundfish and scallops and is a member of Sector 2 in Gloucester.

Azure Cygler Gloucester, MA NOAA
John Curzake Sector Management in New England

John Curzake, 48, is a commercial fisherman out of Point Judith, Rhode Island. He has been fishing since high school on a swordfishing boat with his in-laws; though his immediate family didn?t fish commercially, his father and brother occasionally go commercial lobstering. He fishes for skates and some groundfish, mostly inshore. He became a member of sector 13 to avoid gear restrictions placed on individuals in the common pool. Mr. Curzake does not like sector management and would prefer to return to Days-at-Sea, with at least 50 days per vessel per year.

Azure Cygler Narragansett, RI NOAA
Kevin Norton Sector Management in New England

Kevin Norton, 42, is a commercial fisherman out of Scituate, Massachusetts. He began fishing as a kid, left fishing for a while and has now been fishing full-time for the past 14 years. For the majority of his commercial fishing career, Mr. Norton has gone groundfishing on a dragger in the Gulf of Maine. He is a member of sector 10, but would leave sectors very quickly if it were possible to make a living wage in the common pool. Mr. Norton has a negative view of sectors and feels there is a large amount of uncertainty in fishing as a result of sector and other fishing regulations.

Angela Wilson Scituate, MA NOAA
Karl Cygler Sector Management in New England

Karl Cygler, 36, owns a company which provides fisheries observers to commercial fishing vessels, including sector and commonpool boats. Mr. Cygler used to be an observer as well and his father was a commercial fisherman in the 1980?s. Mr.Cygler has seen changes in observer coverage since sectors started and his staff mentioned there is more tension and frustration on the part of the fishing industry in having to carry observers at a higher rate than before sectors. Mr.

Azure Cygler Narragansett, RI NOAA
Ian Parente Sector Management in New England

Ian Parente, 30, is a commercial fisherman out of Sakonnet Point, RI. He is a second generation commercial fisherman who has fished his whole life and bought his own vessel out of high school; he also has 2 brothers that fish. Mr. Parente now fishes mostly for groundfish offshore on his commonpool boat; his other boat does not have a groundfish permit and mostly monkfishes. He feels that sector management is not a bad idea in theory, but that it has been poorly implemented, largely as a result of allocation issues.

Azure Cygler Tiverton, RI NOAA
Hilary Dombrowski Sector Management in New England

Hilary Dombrowski, 64, is a commercial fisherman out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. He began fishing around age 10, progressively buying and operating larger boats. He now jigs for cod and tub trawls for haddock, in the inshore. He is a member of the common pool because quota allocations were assigned based on years during which there were a great deal of regulations, thus limiting catch for many in the region. As a small fisherman, there is no real avenue for him to get into a sector, as it is quite expensive.

Azure Cygler Gloucester, MA NOAA