BOSTON — August 28, 2013 — On August 21, the New England Fishery Management Council's (NEFMC) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met to develop recommendations for the Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and Overfishing Limit (OFL) for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder. The meeting took place amid a growing consensus, by both SSC members and leading voices in the fishing industry, that the methodology used in yellowtail stock assessments is critically flawed, and is unacceptable for use in yellowtail management.
The SSC reviewed the TRAC's 2013 Georges Bank yellowtail flounder assessment, as well as the Groundfish Plan Development Team's (PDT) report on OFL and ABC alternatives for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder for fishing years 2014-2016. The SSC agreed on an ABC of no more that 500 metric tons, but due to the high degree of uncertainty in the stock assessment, was unable to provide a specific OFL recommendation.
In advance of the meeting, several stakeholders publicly voiced their concerns over the reliability of the most recent yellowtail assessment. Most notably, Dr. Steve Cadrin, an SSC member and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, wrote to Dr. Jake Kritzer, the Chairman of the SSC, that "there is neither the scientific nor the procedural basis to support the 2013 TRAC [Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee] recommendation for Georges Bank yellowtail catch advice." The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), an industry group representing the majority of full-time, limited-access Atlantic scallop permit holders, expressed similar concerns to Northeast Fisheries Science Center Director Dr. Bill Karp, calling the assessment "not viable for use as a basis for catch advice," and stating that the yellowtail management process is "arbitrary and capricious" as a result.
At the meeting, Dr. Kritzer detailed some of Dr. Cadrin's criticisms of the yellowtail assessment. Specifically, he called attention to Dr. Cadrin's assertion that the TRAC's 2013 recommendations for yellowtail did not comply with the TRAC's own standards for catch advice, which it laid out in the 2005 yellowtail benchmark assessment. Concern over the assessment was widespread on the SSC, with members Dr. Daniel Georgianna, Jean-Jacques Maguire, and John Hoenig all expressing reservations regarding the results. The Committee members aired doubts over whether the yellowtail stock is actually in danger, raised the question of whether or not the results of the assessment should be accepted, and expressed a lack of confidence in the accuracy of the assessment models.
Drew Minkiewicz, representing the Fisheries Survival Fund, reviewed FSF's criticisms of the assessment and the stock assessment process. He noted that the FSF leveled the same criticisms against the 2012 assessment, only to see the issues go unaddressed and worsen with the 2013 assessment. FSF beleives the flaws in the 2013 assessment are deep enough that the TRAC's process of accepting it violated several national guidelines, and that the SSC's current approach is not fixing the fundamental problems in the assessment.
Listen to Dr. Christopher Legault, of NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center, offer his rationale as to why the TRAC offered a range, rather than a specific value, as catch advice for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder.
Listen to Dr. Christopher Legault discuss how high levels of variability and inconsistency in the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder data have made it difficult to use a stock assessment model other than the current virtual population analysis (VPA).
Listen to Drew Minkiewicz, of the Fisheries Survival Fund, discuss the SSC's inability to reach a formal consensus due in large part to SSC member Dr. Steve Cadrin's submission of a written statement asserting that the Georges Bank yellowtail assessment should not be used for catch advice. Dr. Cadrin was absent from the meeting. Mr. Minkiewicz also voices concern for basing catch advice on a model that has already been corrected twice and has shown a retrospective pattern year after year.
Listen to SSC Chair Dr. Jacob Kritzer highlight the key points of SSC member Dr. Steve Cadrin's written statement to the SSC. Dr. Cadrin, who is also a professor in the Department of Fisheries and Oceanography in the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, stresses that the 2013 TRAC assessment of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder is not a reliable basis for fishery management decisions.
Listen to SSC members Dr. Daniel Georgianna, Jean-Jacques Maguire, and John Hoenig discuss their apprehension in basing Georges Bank yellowtail catch advice on an inconsistent model.
Listen to Drew Minkiewicz, of the Fisheries Survival Fund, discuss the importance of addressing issues fundamental to the SSC's deliberative process, and examine Georges Bank yellowtail flounder's role in the scallop fishery.
Listen to Vito Giacalone, of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, discuss the effects the SSC's catch recommendations will have on the groundfish industry.
Listen to SSC Chair Dr. Jacob Kritzer accept piecemeal suggestions from SSC members to be included in the Committee's final recommendations regarding catch advice for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder.