III. Primary Ports: Community Studies
E. Point Judith, Rhode Island Go to map of ports
E1. Overview of Point Judith Groundfishing (Table 15)
E2. Port Infrastructure (Table 16)
E3. The Local Fleet and Fisheries
E5. Fishing Organizations and Associations
E6. Adaptability and Critical Issues
E7. Adaptations and Adjustments to Crisis
Commercial fishing in Point Judith is a historically
recent activity. The port lacks the complex fishing traditions and
infrastructure of the larger ports such as Gloucester and New Bedford.
Here, a fleet consisting of offshore and inshore vessels follow a cyclic,
shifting pattern of resource use that sets Point Judith apart from the
northern New England ports. Point Judith boats are diverse in their annual
round and approach to the fisheries as opposed to New Bedford boats which
only go after groundfish. Fishers are employed full-time as they switch
fisheries and boats during the year. The port most similar to Point Judith
is Chatham, although Chatham has no large offshore vessels in its fleet.
Beginning
in the 17th century and through most of the 18th, the region of southern
Rhode Island surrounding Point Judith was a farming community. Pictures
from the turn of the century show plowed fields and farm settlements where
there are now secondary growth forest and housing developments. The
textile industry started in 1802, became prominent in the late 19th century,
and then collapsed. The 20th century has seen the decline of agriculture
and mill manufacturing, and their replacement with the tertiary services
sector, including retail trade, health care, education, and tourism. Commercial
fishing is a secondary industry that came to prominence in the 1930s. Unlike
other primary sector industries such as agriculture which have declined,
fishing advanced in importance (Table 15).
The commercial fishery of Point Judith did not
play a prominent role in the regional economy until the construction of
a breakwater in the mid-1930s. This effort, part of Roosevelt's
New Deal program, was carried out by young of men in their early twenties
from Kingston and Narragansett. The first commercial fishers used hook
and line, beach seine and weir fishing by the middle of the 19th century.
Beach seining for bass and menhaden began around 1867 (Whaley 1939:4).
Seining was carried out by 'fishing gangs', characterized by fish houses
along the beach with bunks in which they slept until it was time to fish.
Gangs were equipped with two boats and a seine, and this fishing practice
continued until about 1940. Trap fishing and lobstering were also important
early fishing methods in the area.
After WWII, the fishing fleet expanded and a cooperative
was formed (The Point Judith Fishermen's Cooperative Association, locally
known as "the Coop"). This included most all inshore groundfishers
in the port. As of 1978, Point Judith's landings made up 61 percent of
Rhode Island's total catch. In 1992, the total value of fish landed in
Point Judith was $36.2 million.
With enactment of the 200 mile limit in 1976,
fishing strategies began to diversify as lobster, shellfish, and swordfishing
became important. These new fisheries did not require the same precision,
or knowledge of the grounds as groundfishing. It encouraged a whole new
generation of fisher who worked outside the established Coop. Many of these
newcomers had never fished before, but were making a lot of money. New
entrants were also encouraged by inexpensive boat loans made available
through the US Department of Commerce.
The expansion of the industry in the late 1970
pressured the Coop to put a moratorium on memberships. This was
extended until 1986-87 when the Coop increased its processing capacity
by moving into a new larger building. Yet during the Coop moratorium, other
companies filled the niche created by the expanding industry, and by the
time the Coop could accommodate the influx, there was little incentive
for fishers to join. The expansion of the Coop increased operating costs,
and along with pressures from local and external (main market) competitors,
contributed to its collapse in 1994.
The social cohesiveness of the Point Judith community
was based on sharing the common occupation and traditions of the fishing
lifestyle. Twenty years ago, there was a different atmosphere to
the community. Bait processing and related jobs brought locals with no
prior experience into contact with established fishers to share in the
development of the industry. An event that represented this shared lifestyle
was the blessing of the fleet. The blessing was marked with food, games,
parades, and other festivities. Commercial fishing boats would be cleaned
and decorated for the celebration to symbolically demonstrate their central
value in the social and economic life pattern of the community.
Since the post-war days, significant change has
come to Point Judith. Tourism is pushing the fishing industry into
the economic background as the port becomes more gentrified (Dale 1992).
A similar process typifies nearby Newport, where fishing has been overshadowed
and incrementally reduced by more than a hundred years of touristic development
(Bort 1981). For example, with the increasing costs of boat insurance,
insurance companies refused to cover anyone hurt during the Blessing of
the Fleet celebration: "They went so far as to say, anyone participating,
such as boat owners letting people on their vessels, would have their entire
insurance canceled". Such 'insurance blackmail' effectively ended
the blessing, and the town officials never fought to keep this significant
marker of the local fishing culture alive (personal communication, key
respondent). This change represented a shift in social and economic alliances
away from fishing towards tourism.
Areas where fishers used to park before setting
out to sea are now lots for tourists. All but one of the social
gathering spots for fishers have been converted into tourist attractions
such as ice cream shops and restaurants. Weakening of the communal identity
of fishers has had a negative social impact. A symptom of this is the changing
role of the Point Judith Mission. The Mission initially helped fisher families
in crisis with food and small loans. Over the years the emphasis moved
towards helping fishers with drug and alcohol addiction problems. Today,
some key respondents feel the Mission has lost its community orientation
as a support resource for fishing families.
Despite these changes, as one respondent put it,
"there is still a distinct community of fishermen here."
Fisher comprise a social and occupational network: "People know
each other." The small town atmosphere is punctuated by functions
such as the Fishermen's Scholarship fund, that recently had its annual
game feast where $6,000 were raised for the sons and daughters of fishers.
Port facilities, although small scale compared
to New Bedford or Gloucester, are adequate for the size of the local fleet.
There are approximately 230 vessels of all types berthed in Point
Judith (personal communication, Dan McGovern, Division of Coastal Resources).
The area is not much bigger than 3 city blocks, but all the activity in
the area is associated with some aspect of the fishing industry. Vessels
are located at a number of docks which extend perpendicular to the main
street. Another set of docks extend off a large industrial area. Across
from the harbor are a number of empty docks for seasonal recreational boaters.
There are numerous support industries along the
water. The large industrial area at the North end of the street
is where most fish processing is done. It has six processing plants including
the former Point Judith Coop ( now owned by an independent operator) and
the Town Dock. Facilities include dockside fuel pumps, a single restaurant/store,
bait shops, commercial marine suppliers, recreational suppliers, and vessel
repair shops. Along the adjoining streets are several other restaurants
devoted to seafood. The Block Island Ferry also leaves from this port and
promotes a large seasonal population of people passing through town.
The main docking facility is the Town Dock.
It employs 50 people and hires between 20-50 part-timers as needed. Temporary
employees work at the dock on a seasonal basis depending on the species.
Permanent employees all live in the area, while part timers live as far
away as Providence.
Town Dock handles 12 permanent vessels in the
60-70 foot range. They do handle some vessels from other ports,
but primarily deal with the 12 Point Judith vessels. Dock space does not
appear to be a problem in Point Judith, as long as boats are out at sea.
During storms the boats have to 'raft-out' which means they tie up to one
another along the docks. Boast are charged a docking fee which is handled
by the state. There are more docks than processing places in town with
a dozen different places to tie up. The Town Dock receives all manner of
groundfish, although they do not process much cod and haddock.
At
one time, the dock served as a cutting dock for yellowtail, fluke, and
cod. About seven years ago it shifted its focus because of a decrease in
landings for these species. Now they process little groundfish and
deal primarily with squid, herring and mackerel. This has caused problems
for those who continue to target groundfish. At least one fisher has moved
his vessel to Newport, claiming that processors favor the larger offshore
vessels. Other important species include butterfish, scup, and fluke. Fish
product from Point Judith is considered to be of very high quality. It
commands high prices in Fulton's and the Boston Fish Market. The following
table shows the Town Dock primary species and their seasons.
Squid, herring, mackerel and whiting are predominantly
offshore midwater species caught by large (70') vessels. Groundfish such
as cod, flounder and haddock are primarily targeted by inshore medium length
vessels but by no offshore vessels.
An ecological advantage for Point Judith fishers
is that they are close to many of their primary stocks, including relatively
new target species such as squid. Another advantage is that Point
Judith fishers have access to mid-Atlantic stocks such as butterfish, which
are approaching the northern most point for many species, as well as access
to northern traditional groundfish areas and stocks. An important key to
adaptability of Point Judith fishers is stock and gear switching. Of all
the five groundfish ports, Point Judith fishers are the least dependent
on the groundfish fishery. This does not mean that the typical species
that compose the groundfish complex are not an important resource (locals
hold 67 active MGF permits). Rather, it reflects adaptability in seasonal
stock utilization. This adaptability is attuned to the mixing of Mid-Atlantic
and New England marine ecozones.
The Sound off of Point Judith was said to be fished
out of groundfish some ten years ago, but fishers still bring in valuable
catches as they range out to Block Island and beyond. Lobster is
also an important local fishery. The lobster and shellfish fishers were
severely impacted by the recent oil spill* off of Cape North, Rhode Island.
Oil spread in Block Island Sound and nearby waters. Closure of these waters
and the death of millions of lobsters and shellfish has had a severe local
impact. Lobster fishers have been forced to discard polluted traps, fish
outside traditional areas, and discard lobsters that have any signs of
being polluted.
* Note by Clay: For more information on this January 1996
oil spill, go to http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/riseagrant/oilspill.html
The spill has also driven some fishers resorted
to docking in Newport and fishing in areas they would normally not go to.
The greatest impact on the oil spill has been on the lobster fishers,
although area closures have also nearshore areas fished by inshore bottom
trawlers. Areas closest to the spill zone (nearshore extending to within
three miles of Block Island) are still closed to commercial fishing.
In a telephone survey, the total number of suppliers
of fisheries equipment was noted as eleven, with 32 wholesale fish and
seafood buyers, four seafood brokers, and 2 packers. Fish product
from Point Judith has the reputation for being fresh and of high quality.
It brings good prices in major markets. However, recent flooding of fish
markets with Russian, Canadian, and European fish products has driven down
dockside prices of domestic product. The result is that valuable fish such
as grey sole are being bought at $.10 a pound (key respondents, Point Judith
and New Bedford), far below their retail value to consumers and far below
a break even price for domestic groundfish fishers. Imported fish has few
restrictions, and local fishers such as those in the MGF are forced to
deal with occasional floods of foreign product that turn otherwise productive
fishing trips into net- loss activities ('brokers').
The Point Judith fisheries have been dominated
by otter-trawl dragging and lobsterpot fishing, which together regularly
make up 90-95 percent of the catch.
The fleet in Point Judith is very unlike those
in Gloucester and New Bedford, and most similar to the Chatham fishing
fleet. It differs from Chatham in having an offshore fleet (17 compared
to none for Chatham). The industry and the local fisher families, with
the possible exception of lobster fishers and shellfishers victimized by
the Cape North oil spill, are under less stress than those in ports such
as Gloucester and New Bedford. Adaptability is a trademark of the Point
Judith fleet, and local respondents say they have enjoyed six successful
consecutive fishing seasons. As a major gear supplier notes:
"The fishermen have had the best year
they have had in a long time last year--and that's true in both the Gulf
of Maine and south of Cape Cod. It's not true in the traditional
New Bedford, Gloucester, and Boston fisheries. But the other fisheries--the
Mid-Atlantic fisheries--have grown, and good fishermen in the Gulf of Maine
have had a good year despite reduced effort. An I think a lot of fishermen
are optimistic for the future. They see things coming along much faster
than management, I think, sees them coming."
Like Chatham, Point Judith fishers have the capacity
and willingness to innovate and spread their efforts across different gear
types and fishery stocks (key respondent, local fishing community
leader). For example, recent increases in local landings result from targeting
herring, which involves a gear conversion costing $125,000. Such success
and economic flexibility is mirrored in a fleet that is fairly modern and
in good repair.
The number of commercial vessels in port are 134.
Vessels range from 45-90 feet, with most being ground trawlers.
Of these, 55 are between 45 and 75 feet, and 17 over 75 feet. The smaller
vessels have 1-2 person crews, with larger vessels manned by 4-5 crew.
Most larger vessels fish for squid, herring and whiting. Some smaller inshore
boats are still targeting groundfish, but no boats over 70 feet are. More
groundfishing is actually done by the small fleet fishing out of Newport
than out of Point Judith.
Some larger vessels from Gloucester and other
ports may join the local fleet. One fisher from Gloucester recently
fished for squid off of Rhode Island. His motivation was to establish a
history in the squid fishery (a form of future 'fishing investment'), although
he actually lost money on the initial venture.
The captain of the one eastern side trawler still
in operation fishes south past Montauk and north to New Bedford. He
described his fishing strategy as 'opportunistic' (you market what you
can catch). For example, recent catches have included skate, which are
salted in barrels and sold as lobster bait.
As in Gloucester, there is an external market
for seafood products, including processing of non-local seafood products.
For example, the Mitsubishi corporation has an arrangement with
Sea Fresh Corporation. Mitsubishi Fresh, Inc. contracts 16 Taiwanese longliners
to fish for big eye and yellowfin tuna off of Brazil and Trinidad. These
vessels stay out for six months at a time, unloading their catch onto carrier
vessels in exchange for fuel and food, and then return to Trinidad where
the main plant is located. Fish are handled and shipped from Trinidad to
Miami and New York for distribution in the US markets. Most of the harvest
is sold domestically. All sales and business are conducted out of Narragansett.
The involvement of foreign investors in local seafood processing is a pattern
that is begin repeated in many ports. Processing of foreign fish products
is an important economic activity in both New Bedford and Gloucester, the
core ports of the MGF.
The original inhabitants of the region where Algonquin
Indians, who hunted, trapped and cultivated until being replaced by European
colonists. Indian displacement began with the Pettaquamscutt Purchase
in 1658, followed by other transactions in 1660 and 1662. White settlers
practiced agriculture using slaves and indentured servants for the next
200 years. The industrial sector boomed in the early 1800s with the growth
of textile mills, while the agricultural sector experienced declines with
gentrification of the area and shifts in labor to mill jobs. Details of
demographic transition and economic history from these early years up to
1970 can be found in Poggie and Gersuny (1978). The primary trend has been
towards a increase in the services sector away from primary and secondary
sectors. In 1970, only 1.1 percent of workers were engaged in agriculture
(93 people), 903 in manufacturing (including 244 in textiles), 24.2 percent
in material goods-producing occupations, with the majority (74.7%) involved
in various professional, white collar, and service pursuits.
As of 1996, the labor force remains skewed towards
the service industry, with fishers' numbers remaining fairly constant.
Few new fishers are coming into the industry from local communities,
but sons of fishers are inheriting operating vessels and permits (key respondent,
Point Judith). Tourism has also become a competing industry, as described
below. Although fishers are holding their own, access to prime docking
space and 'social space' is being lost to tourism development.
Table
17 gives employment figures for South Kingston, Rhode Island, which includes
Point Judith and Narragansett, for the years 1984 and 1994. Figures
given for fishing/agriculture/forestry are deceiving, for many participants
in the fishery may serve as crew on a part time basis, or live outside
the area and commute in, as they do in the processing sector.
Overall, there is a 14 percent drop in employment
in the agriculture/forestry/fishing category. In all other occupational
categories, a percent increase is apparent.
Most fishers from this port live in a 20 mile
radius. There is little residential housing in the immediate vicinity.
Thus, there is no communal enclave of fishers' residences, and fishing
families are scattered throughout the small local communities of Southern
Rhode Island, including Snug Harbor, Wakefield, and Narragansett. Although
Point Judith does have a tradition in the fisheries, most of the people
here have little family connection to the fishing industry. The typical
Point Judith fisher is around 40 years old, has college or masters degrees,
and came into the fisheries during the 60's primarily for the lifestyle
and financial independence afforded by the occupation.
The majority of fishers are first generation and
lack historical ties to the industry. There is also little ethnic
diversity in a population characterized as highly adaptive: "These
fishermen are mostly Yankee... they change. The more ethnically rooted
a fishing community is, the more difficult it is for them to change. There
is a good side to lack of tradition."
The overwhelming majority of fishers are white
males. Older fisher men refer to themselves as "Swamp Yankees."
On the other hand, a majority of fish processing workers are ethnic minorities.
The former Coop contracts a company to bus in Asians and Puerto Ricans
from Providence to work in the fish houses.
Several local organizations represent fishers
and their issues. Until 1994, the Point Judith Fisherman's Coop
was a viable organization which provided marketing support to members.
The marketing-purchasing organization of the Coop made it "one of
the most effective fishing cooperatives in the United States." Overcapitalization
has been cited as the major factor in the failure of the cooperative, but
other conditions such as poor prices and market conditions could have contributed
to its demise (key respondent, Point Judith). The Coop has been purchased,
and is now run as an independent fish marketing organization.
An important fishing organization based out of
Point Judith is the East Coast Fisheries Federation (ECFF). It is
mainly a large boat organization extending from New Bedford to New Jersey.
ECFF is partially supported by funding from local processors, and functions
to keep fishers abreast of important management issues. Funds are taken
from fuel costs, with $.3 cents from every gallon going to the organization,
which ensures its existence even if there is a lack of interest.
According to the organization president "most
fishermen are issue orientated when it comes to joining organizations...so
when the crisis is handled, the organization usually goes down the drain.
Because there is a no hassle membership subscription with
our organization, these vessels are ensured consistent representation and
information from the stability of the organization funds." The
president claims he has never lost a member by default and sees a continuing
solid base of participation.
Of all the ports surveyed, Point Judith is the
least dependent on the MGF. Portland has fewer active MGF permits
(56), but lacks the diversity in fishing strategies seen in Point Judith.
This lack of dependency is not due to a lack of interest in groundfish
stocks. Rather, it is an adaptive response to take advantage of the diversity
of stocks available in the region. Fishers have consistently followed a
strategy that allows them to respond to changes in stock biomass and seasonality.
They are not locked into utilizing groundfish, but depend instead on a
mix of mid-water species such as whiting and herring, groundfish species,
and others such as shrimp, squid, and lobster. The primary issues in this
port are distilled from interviews with key informants as the most often
mentioned critical issues. They reflect the focus and concern on of Point
Judith fishers in maintaining flexibility and adaptability:
being able to change fisheries, versatility, but
dampened by the hassle of numerous new permits for the different fisheries
and not knowing the control dates until after the fact;
being on the margins of management decision making;
restrictions on the mesh size you can have onboard
your vessel with what fish, the need to for these fisheries to be able
to switch mesh sizes mid-tow;
gear conflict offshore between draggers and offshore
lobster pots as well as inshore between draggers and gillnetters;
fear of ITQs;
positive attitudes towards the buyout program;
inability to improve your business by increasing
your vessel size and/or horsepower*;
*Note by Clay: Certain fisheries,
such as groundfish and scallops, have vessel upgrade limits on length,
tonnage, and horsepower as a form of effort control.
distrust of the political process of developing
FMPs (see text box);
discouragement at the time lapse between the gathering
of scientific data and the proper use of that data (see text box);
insulted by the way they are perceived and publicly
portrayed by fishery scientists ( no perceived respect for their knowledge
or experience as fishers by those managing the resource) (see text box);
pollution impacts on nearshore waters;
interference in commercial fishing by the developing
tourist (recreational boating) sector;
including loss of dock space for nearshore draggers;
poor prices because of the influx of foreign fisheries
products driving down ex-vessel value of domestic fresh-caught fish; and
no control over the marketing end of the industry
( loss of any control over prices when the Coop went bankrupt).
The development of tourism in south Kingston and
a focus on offshore trawling has also created problems for the few inshore
draggers who wish to continue groundfishing. Dock space is expensive,
and supporting commercial infrastructure cannot be expanded upon, since
it is in competition with a growing recreational boat sector. The trend
has been towards consolidation of infrastructure and loss of 'social' space
as the surrounding area becomes gentrified.
The kinds of impacts being felt by families of
large draggers in places such as New Bedford and Gloucester is not apparent
in Point Judith. Fishers are still under stress because of the constantly
changing regulatory climate, but appear to be coping by maintaining flexible
fishing strategies. The oil spill has also stressed local fishing families,
particularly those that rely on shellfishing and lobstering for all or
part of their fishing income (Dyer and Burroughs 1996).
As in all of the primary ports surveyed, there
is no evidence that the industry is replicating itself or expanding through
the introduction of new vessels and support businesses. However,
Point Judith fishers are, overall, being able to sustain their level of
social yield in the fishery by maintaining a great degree of adaptability
to changing regulatory and economic conditions.
The social reproduction of the fishery follows
a father-son progression, and fishers are related to each other patrilineally.
Even though the history of commercial fishing is short, the kinship ties
of fishers in this area are long-standing. Poggie and Gersuny (1978) found
that 51 percent of fishermen active in 1971 had surnames found in the 1774
colonial census of the town, as contrasted with 28 percent of textile workers.
This is predicted by the Natural Resource Community model, in which relationships
to utilization of local resources, whether they be extracted through commercial
fishing, farming, or for subsistence purposes, tie individuals to a location
through the social and cultural value of a renewable natural resource extraction
lifestyle.
Within the sample of fishers there was some variation;
57 percent of lobstermen and 47 percent of trawlermen have surnames found
in the colonial census (Census of Rhode Island 1969:84ff). From
the 1971 sample, 73 percent of fishers said they had one or more of their
relatives in fishing, while only 16 percent reported one or more of their
wife's relatives in fishing.
In 1978, among 116 members of the fishing cooperative,
18 surnames accounted for 47 percent of the members, while one family name,
represented by three or more fishers each, accounted for 32 percent of
the members. Thus, patrilineal kinship ties have defined the social
and occupational networks of local fishers for generations. A recent dockside
intercept survey of seven boat captains found them working with a son and/or
one other male relative as part of the crew.
One significant change is that women are involved
more as crew a dockside support than they have been in the past, with at
least one woman boat owner in the port. Another difference with
the present fishing populations from the early 1970s is that there has
been an influx of first time fishers from URI and nearby communities that
have no family history in the industry, and got into fishing because it
was an available option. Present recruitment, however, is at a standstill
as limits on permits, well established occupational networks, and high
start-up costs inhibit new entrants to the fishery.
Other issues include gear conflicts, area restrictions,
and competition for resources with the recreational sector. Social conflicts
noted by Poggie and Gersuny in 1978 have only worsened since, and their
description is apt:
"Although they are circumspect in talking
about them, commercial fishermen also have to contend with sports fishermen
and pleasure boating enthusiasts as competitors in the social environment.
Inshore pot lobstermen in particular view these groups as their
enemies, as human predators who interfere with their livelihood. Pleasure
boaters frequently violate the rules of the road and damage fishing gear,
as well as compete for scarce dock space" (1978:48).
Fishers of Point Judith are maintaining their economic viability by taking advantage of a good mix of mid and north Atlantic fish stocks, and by maintaining diversity in seasonal fishing patterns, gear types, and permits held. The result is a relatively economically healthy fishing fleet, but with few new recruits and no new vessels coming into the system. Ties to international markets have kept the inshore processing sector viable even with the declines in groundfish landings. Offshore midwater draggers have also made up for local declines in groundfish landing by targeting high biomass midwater species such as whiting, herring and squid. The immediate future of the fishery in Point Judith looks good, but the lack of recruitment and loss of social and cultural capital through gentrification prevents the industry from expanding, and could accelerate its decline if gentrification intensifies. There is evidence that this is occurring, since the south Kingston area is experiencing a population growth due to high quality of living and benefits of a good school system which is driving rapid land development (Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation). As values of local dock space and land increase, further declines in fishing infrastructure may follow.