What is the Northeast Seafood Coalition?
Founded in 2002, the Northeast Seafood Coalition (“NSC” or “Coalition”) is a 501(c)(6) membership organization that represents commercial fishing businesses in the Northeastern United States. Since our founding, the work of NSC has been geared toward crafting real solutions to complex fishery problems. NSC strives to find creative solutions that work to rebuild fish stocks while preserving family-owned fishing businesses, a diverse groundfish fleet, and fishing communities across the Northeast. NSC works in the public policy process established by federal law to develop rules to rebuild stocks in the Northeast groundfish fishery.
Who does the Northeast Seafood Coalition represent?
NSC members are small, independent, entrepreneurial businesses that fish for – and support fishing for – cod, haddock, flounders, and other groundfish species along the northeast coast. NSC’s fishing business members fish from small and large ports all along the Northeast coast. They fish small, medium, and large vessels, and they deploy, among them, all groundfish gear types (predominantly trawl, longline, and gillnet). NSC currently represents over 250 commercial fishing entities—which hold over 500 limited access groundfish permits—in the northeast United States on political and policy issues affecting their interests as participants in the groundfish fishery.
What is the Northeast Seafood Coalition’s mission?
The Northeast Seafood Coalition’s mission is to work for the long-term health of fishery resources, fishing communities and the fishing industry throughout the Northeast.
Where do membership dues go?
NSC employs two full-time staff, one-part time staff, and has one federal consultant in Washington, DC. NSC works hard to effectively manage its funding and to limit any unnecessary expenditure. Our organization uses funding to provide salaries to staff and to pay legal, accounting, and consulting fees to benefit its mission.
Why should I be a member of the Northeast Seafood Coalition?
Fisheries policy is complex and can often be intimidating and cumbersome. NSC navigates through the intricate fisheries policy arena to find workable, real solutions on your behalf. The NSC staff looks to the future to see where the organization can step in and fight for groundfish fishermen, small fishery-dependent businesses, and fishing communities. NSC fishing dependent members represent a diverse spectrum of the Northeast groundfish fishery, including all gear types, vessel sizes, and ports from Maine to New Jersey. We strive to bring interests together to find mutually acceptable solutions.
By joining the Northeast Seafood Coalition today, you will be supporting the organization to help to sustain fishing entities, fishing communities, and the groundfish fishery in the Northeast.
What was NSC’s role in developing sectors?
NSC organized 12 of the 17 authorized and operational groundfish sectors that became operational on May 1, 2010. Of the 12 Northeast Fishery Sectors, nine operate out of ports in Massachusetts, two out of ports in New Hampshire, and one out of ports in Rhode Island. Currently for fishing year 2013, the total number of federal limited access multispecies permits held by all 12 NSC-organized sectors combined is more than 500.