CharlieTuna
08-29-2008, 08:03 PM
Report: little improvement in fish stocks
By Jay Lindsay
AP
BOSTON—Battered New England fishermen are facing the possibility of even tighter fishing restrictions after a long-awaited report released Friday showed an increase in the number of stocks being overfished and slow-to-no improvement in many key species.
The Groundfish Assessment Review Meeting report indicated 13 of 19 groundfish stocks were being overfished in 2007, compared with eight in 2004. It also showed drops in the amount of various flounder species, as well as an overall drop in the average weight of many species.
The report, prepared by federal fishery scientists, had some good news, including robust haddock stocks and strong growth in Gulf of Maine cod stocks. But the estimated amount of that cod stock and 12 others are still at such a low level that the law requires federal regulators to make a plan to rebuild them.
Paul Rago, chief of the population dynamics branch at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said the progress the report revealed shouldn't be ignored, but he said, "if you're strictly looking at the strict counts, that's not good news."
The report will be presented at a meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council, an advisory group that devises fishing rules, in Providence, beginning Wednesday. It the first major stock assessment in three years and regulators say it is the most comprehensive look ever at the ancient fishery.
Priscilla Brooks of the Conservation Law Foundation said the report makes it clear that more must be done to control fishing, despite years of restrictions aimed at helping troubled stocks rebound. She called for strict catch limits on troubled stocks.
"The overall picture is not a good one," Brooks said. "The results of the stock assessment spell out the need for very aggressive management."
But Rago said it's too soon to know what measures will be taken because of so much remaining uncertainty about what will work in the complex system.
Jackie Odell of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, an industry group, said the report's estimates were no more than guesses, and they shouldn't be used to tighten rules on an industry that's barely hanging on.
The report makes some significant changes from previous estimates. For instance, there is a 25 percent downward revision its previous estimate of the total amount of fish, if all stocks were eventually rebuilt.
Scientists also found that the weight of many species at different ages is dropping. That could affect fishing policy because fishermen are told they can catch a certain number of tons of each species. If the fish are smaller, more are being pulled out of the ocean per ton, and rules could be tightened to better protect vulnerable species.
"The level of uncertainty is profound," Odell said. "We're going to destroy a whole fishing community based on these numbers? To what degree do we feel these numbers are good numbers?"
Fisherman are already working under the most severe restrictions in the industry's history, with some fishermen in the Gulf of Maine limited to about 24 fishing days annually. Some in the industry have advocated dividing the industry into sectors and allotting a certain amount of fish per sector for fishermen to divide among themselves. Now, policies to protect fish focus on measures such as limiting fishing days at sea.
By Jay Lindsay
AP
BOSTON—Battered New England fishermen are facing the possibility of even tighter fishing restrictions after a long-awaited report released Friday showed an increase in the number of stocks being overfished and slow-to-no improvement in many key species.
The Groundfish Assessment Review Meeting report indicated 13 of 19 groundfish stocks were being overfished in 2007, compared with eight in 2004. It also showed drops in the amount of various flounder species, as well as an overall drop in the average weight of many species.
The report, prepared by federal fishery scientists, had some good news, including robust haddock stocks and strong growth in Gulf of Maine cod stocks. But the estimated amount of that cod stock and 12 others are still at such a low level that the law requires federal regulators to make a plan to rebuild them.
Paul Rago, chief of the population dynamics branch at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said the progress the report revealed shouldn't be ignored, but he said, "if you're strictly looking at the strict counts, that's not good news."
The report will be presented at a meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council, an advisory group that devises fishing rules, in Providence, beginning Wednesday. It the first major stock assessment in three years and regulators say it is the most comprehensive look ever at the ancient fishery.
Priscilla Brooks of the Conservation Law Foundation said the report makes it clear that more must be done to control fishing, despite years of restrictions aimed at helping troubled stocks rebound. She called for strict catch limits on troubled stocks.
"The overall picture is not a good one," Brooks said. "The results of the stock assessment spell out the need for very aggressive management."
But Rago said it's too soon to know what measures will be taken because of so much remaining uncertainty about what will work in the complex system.
Jackie Odell of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, an industry group, said the report's estimates were no more than guesses, and they shouldn't be used to tighten rules on an industry that's barely hanging on.
The report makes some significant changes from previous estimates. For instance, there is a 25 percent downward revision its previous estimate of the total amount of fish, if all stocks were eventually rebuilt.
Scientists also found that the weight of many species at different ages is dropping. That could affect fishing policy because fishermen are told they can catch a certain number of tons of each species. If the fish are smaller, more are being pulled out of the ocean per ton, and rules could be tightened to better protect vulnerable species.
"The level of uncertainty is profound," Odell said. "We're going to destroy a whole fishing community based on these numbers? To what degree do we feel these numbers are good numbers?"
Fisherman are already working under the most severe restrictions in the industry's history, with some fishermen in the Gulf of Maine limited to about 24 fishing days annually. Some in the industry have advocated dividing the industry into sectors and allotting a certain amount of fish per sector for fishermen to divide among themselves. Now, policies to protect fish focus on measures such as limiting fishing days at sea.