When Congress reauthorized the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 2007, they gave federal fisheries regulators a deadline: establish catch limits and end overfishing by 2011. As the fateful year dawned a couple of months ago, recently retired NOAA Fisheries Chief Scientist Steve Murawski made an historic announcement: mission accomplished. Headlines trumpeted the end of overfishing in the United States.
And yet, the most recent status reports from NOAA’s Office of Sustainable Fisheries still list 40 stocks – including 10 in New England, alone – as being actively subject to overfishing. Why?
Emily Menashes, Acting Director for the Office of Sustainable Fisheries, says it’s the “difference between implementing measures and having positive verification of [their] success.” Or, put another way, the difference between belief and knowledge. The strict catch limits put into place for the 2010 fishing season are based on scientists’ interpretation of available information about how many fish there are and also a complex suite of what are known as life history traits, such as life span and reproductive success. Regulators believe that the current limits are set at a point that will end overfishing. But they won’t know that for sure for some time.
Read the complete story from WGBH.