THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1996 TAG: 9603150445
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICHARD LORANT, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Donald Lowe Jr.'s boat has pulled in its last haul of fish.
Lowe was the first of 11 Massachusetts and New Hampshire boat owners to get a check under a $2 million pilot program that pays fishermen to turn in their permits and scrap their vessels.
The federal plan aims to restore depleted Atlantic Ocean fisheries.
For more than two decades, Lowe fished off Gloucester, Mass., for haddock, cod and yellowtail flounder - the main species known as groundfish - that made New England waters famous.
As stocks of groundfish fell to historic lows in recent years, Lowe's share of the catch fell off, too.
``The program allowed me to make a choice. There aren't many choices for a fisherman today,'' Lowe said Wednesday after he accepted a check for $142,500 from John Bullard of the U.S. Commerce Department.
Lowe will get another $47,500 once he scraps the Anne Rowe, his 77-foot boat.
The fishing industry's decline has shaken communities like Gloucester, where the sea has supported families and provided a cultural identity for generations.
Bullard, director of sustainable development for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the program should ease pressure on diminished stocks of valuable fish.
``The cause of the problem is overfishing,'' he said. ``But it's not correct to blame individual fishermen for that. Fishermen fish under the rules set by the New England Fisheries Management Council.''
While the boat buyout program applies only to fishermen out of New England harbors, fishing vessels from Virginia and North Carolina routinely fish in New England waters following migratory flounder.
A total of 114 boat owners applied for the pilot buyout program last year. Buying all those vessels would cost about $52 million, the Commerce Department estimated.
Another $25 million for boat buyouts is awaiting final approval in Congress. The plan would help to cut groundfishing by as much as 25 percent in U.S. waters north of Cape Hatteras.
As for Lowe, he plans to turn to lobstering. However, he is not barred from buying someone else's permit and a new boat to fish again. Others will get out of the fishing business entirely.
David Leveille, whose father and grandfather fished before him, will use the money to pay off his debts. Then he'll look for work in computer networking.
``I'm sick and tired of the aggravation,'' he said as he repaired the nets aboard his boat, the Vicki L.
Of the 11 vessels to be scrapped, four are from Gloucester, three are from New Bedford, Mass., two are from Portsmouth, N.H., and one each is from Boston and Chatham, Mass. ILLUSTRATION: Color ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Donald Lowe Jr. became the first New England fisherman to sell his
boat to the government and surrender his permit. Lowe plans to turn
to lobstering.
KEYWORDS: FISHING INDUSTRY FEDERAL BUYOUT PROGRAM by CNB