Visualizing Access in New England’s Groundfish Fishery: Examining Access to Fish Dealers Using Geospatial Analysis

The New England fishing industry has consolidated significantly over the last few decades as fish stocks in many areas have declined and the regulatory system has changed. This is due to both intended and unintended results of harvest, area and other fishing restrictions, and most recently, the implementation of the sector system. Reduced catches contributed to rapid loss of employment in the fishing industry along the region’s coast. With the reduced flow of fish, fishing business infrastructure such as fish dealers changed in number and distribution. This study examines changes in fishing industry infrastructure facilities with network analysis, measuring the distance between groundfish vessels permits’ principal port and fish dealer locations. There was an overall reduction in the number of vessels and dealers in the groundfish industry. From 2006 to 2011, mean distance decreased significantly between vessels and dealers in MA, ME, and NH; in CT and RI, however, there was a significant increase in mean distance. This analysis is a first step in examining access to fisheries infrastructure, and could be improved by incorporating additional measures of transport cost in fishing industry.