September 18, 2020 — The Pacific Fisheries Management Council yesterday approved a rebuilding plan for the northern stock of Pacific sardines that incorporates the current status quo harvest policy, one of several alternatives before the panel.
The council chose Alternative 1 in large part because it was supported by the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Management Team, an advisory body to the council, along with fishermen, processors, and allied fishing businesses along the West Coast.
September 18, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA):
San Rafael, CA – Congressman Jared Huffman (CA-02), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, announced the next session on a nationwide fisheries listening tour will be Monday, September 28, 2020, at 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET. Rep. Huffman will be joined by Representatives Seth Moulton (MA-06), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), and additional Members of Congress in a discussion on federal fisheries policy in the context of the New England fishery management region. Huffman has previously visited Hawaii, the Gulf Coast, Florida, Seattle, Maryland, San Francisco, and Eureka, California on the tour.
In light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and public health guidance, this will be a virtual session livestreamed on Congressman Huffman’s Facebook page. The event is free and open to the public and press. Press interested in attending should submit their RSVP to Mary Hurrell at mary.hurrell@mail.house.gov
This panel discussion with experts and stakeholders will include a detailed, technical examination of current and future challenges in federal fisheries management and will explore potential solutions. Viewers are encouraged to ask questions and submit comments in the Facebook video comments section during the event for a chance to have these read aloud and answered live.
The ideas Huffman receives from this listening tour, and from other stakeholder outreach that is already underway, will inform his introduction of a reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing fisheries management in U.S. federal waters.
More detail on Huffman’s listening tour, which was first announced in July 2019, can be found here.
September 17, 2020 — BUELLTON, Calif. — The following was written by D.B. Pleschner, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association:
Thousands of fishermen, processors and allied fishing businesses along the west coast thank the Pacific Fishery Management Council for taking final action on a rebuilding plan for the “northern” stock of Pacific sardine that achieves the balance between conservation and fishing communities mandated by the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).
This action was required by the MSA after the “northern” sardine stock was declared “overfished” in 2019, when the biomass estimate fell below 50,000 mt. The Council decision came after many months of hard work by stock assessment scientists, modelers, the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Management Team and the Council’s Science and Statistical Committee (SSC), to build and analyze a Rebuilder model based on the 2020 “northern” sardine stock assessment, which covered a period of low recruitment. The herculean effort attempted to forecast future sardine population growth and rebuilding time scenarios under various harvest alternatives.
“The Council’s unanimous decision to support the Management Team’s recommendations shows that they understand reality, the big picture,” said Diane Pleschner-Steele, Executive Director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, representing California fishermen and processors. “Our sardine harvest policy already has a built-in rebuilding plan. The Council closed the main directed fishery in 2015, and sharply reduced incidental harvest rates last year. Further cuts would drive many fishing businesses out of business, and we appreciate the Council’s acknowledgement of that prospect.”
The environmental group Oceana immediately issued a press release decrying the Council action, accusing fishery managers of irresponsible mismanagement. Oceana and other environmental activists based their arguments on the Rebuilder model that scientists, the Management Team and the Council all acknowledged did not reflect reality because it could not model the environmental cycles driving sardine productivity, nor could it predict the future. Further, it assumed that the total harvest allowance was caught every year.
Oceana’s accusation, “fishery managers have failed to learn from the mistakes of history,” does not pass the straight face test when all the facts are presented. During the great sardine decline in the late 1940s, the historic sardine fishery harvested 50 percent or more of the standing stock. Today’s sardine fishery harvest amounts to only 0.6 percent of the northern sardine population — very close to 0 US harvest, which was modeled as Alternative 2, and showed disastrous economic impacts to fishing communities in California and the West Coast because it curtailed major fisheries. Commercial fisheries that take sardines incidentally include market squid, anchovy and mackerel in California and Pacific whiting, pink shrimp and groundfish along the entire West Coast. In addition, the live bait fishery relies on sardines and serves a billion-dollar recreational fishing enterprise.
The Council decision illuminates a dicey problem: sardine fishery management policy assumes that two sardine stocks exist along the west coast and Mexico, divided by a temperature barrier at about 62 degrees F. But the Council manages only the “northern” stock, and in recent years, stock assessments have subtracted thousands of tons of sardines found in waters warmer than 62 degrees on the assumption that those were “southern” sardines that migrated up from Mexico. Stock assessments also are now based on annual NOAA summer acoustic trawl (AT) surveys that begin in the Pacific Northwest and move south, not reaching California waters until late August, when water temperatures are typically above 62 degrees. Thus, most California sardines are now omitted from “northern” stock assessments on the assumption they are “southern” sardines. Also, NOAA research ships are too large to survey near shore, where most fishing occurs in California. For the past few years, fishermen have testified to a growing abundance of sardines on their fishing grounds yearlong. But complicating matters even further, for management purposes, all sardines landed are subtracted from the “northern” sardine harvest allowance, regardless of sea temperature. This catch-22 sets the backstory for the Council’s final decision.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions the Council meeting was conducted via webinar, and parade of fishermen, seafood processors and community representatives testified to the hardship they are already experiencing under current restrictions. They all voiced unanimous support for Alternative 1, “status quo” fishing regulations. The Management Team also recommended Alternative 1 as the most balanced and flexible choice. Environmental groups testified as well, and all supported Alternative 3, a static five percent harvest rate hard-wired for close to 20 years, based on Rebuilder model analysis, that would have cut current harvest levels nearly in half, precipitating harsh economic impacts.
In their deliberations, Council members highlighted the flexibility of the “status quo” sardine Harvest Control Rule (HCR) that sets harvest limits based on current environmental conditions. They concurred with scientists and the Management Team that the Rebuilder model does not reflect reality; it can’t model the natural high and low productivity cycles of sardines. Council members recognized that the HCR’s precautionary harvest limits are designed to provide forage for predators. Respecting both the need for conservation and the needs of fishing communities, Washington Councilmember Phil Anderson commented that he would rather provide a little more harvest now to keep fishing communities viable. Otherwise they might not survive into the future. Council chair Marc Gorelnik summarized discussion with his comment, “Mother Nature bats last.”
Scientists and Council members alike recognize that environmental conditions are key to stock rebuilding, as they have been for eons even without fishing. The Management Team pointed out that actual fishery catches in the past five years, since the main directed fishery was closed, have averaged only about 2,300 metric tons, far short of the allowed annual catch target, and most of the catch is “southern” stock sardines. The Council also recognized that the current HCR equates to a built-in rebuilding plan because it has flexibility to reduce catches in relation to the biomass, and also includes automatic actions to further restrict fishing in low abundance years. The Council has already reduced the fishery as far as feasibly possible. Now Mother Nature needs to do the rest.
All things considered, the Council made the proper rebuilding plan decision, following the MSA mandates to specify a time period for rebuilding that is as short as possible, taking into account the biology of the stock and needs of fishing communities. The MSA does allow directed fishing to continue when rebuilding an overfished stock, and does not require instant recovery or the most drastic action be taken. Optimum Yield is a long-term goal. The MSA also allows flexibility in developing a rebuilding plan. The plan will be updated when new information is available – nothing is cast in stone.
In light of evidence of recruitment and the abundance of sardines that California fishermen have been reporting inshore of AT surveys, fishery representatives are asking for a review of the rebuilding plan in 2021 as soon as possible after the next coastwide sardine survey, which was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions, and will for the first time in 2021 include a survey of nearshore waters, in a collaborative effort using fishing industry vessels. The fishing industry is dedicated to help improve the science underpinning stock assessments. “If stock assessments were accurate,” said Corbin Hanson, a highline fisherman who has fished sardines as well as other CPS for more than a decade, “sardines would not be declared ‘overfished.’”
September 9, 2020 — For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the nation’s fishery management law — the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act or MSA — by not using the ‘best available science’ in setting static catch limits on a widely fluctuating anchovy biomass. But an important industry group of harvesters and processors who are also involved in scientific research projects, take issue with the decision.
“Long story short, the judge ruled on a ‘what if’ worst case scenario, not on the reality of anchovy abundance now, or our little anchovy fishery, which food habits studies have shown take less than 1 percent of the anchovy consumed by predators,” said Diane Pleshner-Steele, the executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association. The CWPA is also an intervenor-defendant in the suit.
September 1, 2020 — The National Marine Fisheries Service is failing to develop a plan to rebuild Atlantic cod stocks that have been depleted by overfishing, according to a lawsuit filed in a Washington federal court.
The agency’s failure is arbitrary and capricious and violates the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, under which NMFS has a mandatory duty to rebuild fisheries as quickly as possible, according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
August 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
The world’s oceans are home to around 500 species of sharks. With so many species, it’s difficult to talk about the status of shark stocks overall. Regardless of the species, federal laws and regulations work to ensure that shark fisheries in the United States are healthy going into the future.
Read the facts below to learn more about what it means to be overfished and how we sustainably manage our shark fisheries.
1. U.S. law requires that shark fishing rules foster long-term biological and economic sustainability.
Fishery management in U.S. federal waters is governed primarily by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. First passed in 1976, the act requires that all fishery management plans meet 10 National Standards. That means the approximately 50 species of sharks managed in federal waters are fished under rules designed to:
Gulf of Mexico blacktip sharks are a good example of these rules at work. A popular food fish, blacktip sharks experienced a slight population decline in the 1990s. We established a quota specifically for this population in 2015. That combined with retention limits tied to other commercially valuable species contributed to a higher population today than the target level set by scientists.
Learn more about U.S. fisheries management
Understand why U.S.-caught sharks are a sustainable food choice
2. The terms “overfished” and “threatened” mean different things.
It’s a common misconception that overfished species are at risk of extinction. But the categories of overfished and overfishing are not directly related to threatened and endangered designations under the Endangered Species Act.
To understand the difference, it helps to know another term: maximum sustainable yield. This is the largest catch level that a species can sustain over a long period of time. If a stock is declared overfished, that means its numbers have fallen too low to produce its maximum sustainable yield. An overfished status doesn’t say anything directly about whether the species is endangered or likely to become endangered.
NOAA Fisheries is dedicated to rebuilding overfished stocks. Of the 43 shark stocks managed in the Atlantic Ocean, six are overfished. We have put rebuilding plans in place for each of these with strict catch limits based on the best available science. These limits are closely monitored and enforced.
Learn more about efforts to rebuild sandbar shark populations
Learn more about how retention limits help us sustainably manage shark fisheries
3. Our largest shark fisheries target healthy stocks.
The vast majority of sharks harvested in the United States are species with above-target population levels. In the Atlantic, for example, 94 percent of all U.S. shark landings in 2018—including bycatch—were of five species, which are neither overfished nor subject to overfishing:
Two of these—spiny dogfish and Gulf of Mexico blacktip—have actually experienced population growth over recent decades.
Learn more about how spiny dogfish have benefited from sustainable management
July 14, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Today, NOAA announced the appointment of Ms. Kelly Denit as the new Director of NOAA’s Office of Sustainable Fisheries. As the new director, Ms. Denit will oversee a national office responsible for the implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the management of Atlantic highly migratory species, and promoting U.S. seafood safety while supporting seafood-related commerce and trade.
In this role, she will work closely with Fisheries’ regional offices and science centers in partnership with the regional fishery management councils, interstate marine fishery commissions, and states to establish effective fishery management measures, set catch limits, ensure compliance with fisheries regulations, and reduce bycatch. She will ensure office activities support agency priorities and work with key stakeholders—including the commercial and recreational fishing industries, tribes, academia, non-government organizations, and others—to advance those priorities around the country.
“U.S. fisheries are among the world’s largest, most valuable, and most sustainable as a result of the U.S. fishery management process. As our new lead for the implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, Ms. Denit has a tremendous responsibility and I have every confidence she will rise to the challenge based on her experience and her extraordinary leadership skills,” said Samuel Rauch III, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs at NOAA Fisheries.
Ms. Denit has held various positions within NOAA over the last 15 years after first joining the agency as a Knauss Sea Grant fellow in Fisheries’ Office of International Affairs. Most recently, she served as the Chief of the Domestic Fisheries Division in the Office of Sustainable Fisheries. In that role she provided national policy direction and performance oversight to ensure the continued sustainable management of our nation’s fisheries, primarily in federal waters. Prior to that, Ms. Denit’s work covered a range of activities from state/federal partnerships to recreational fisheries to strategic planning/budgeting to catch share programs. She has also worked at the NOAA Ocean Service’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science in Beaufort, North Carolina.
July 14, 2020 — On Monday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries appointed Kelly Denit as its new director of its office of sustainable fisheries.
As the new director, Denit will oversee a national office responsible for the implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the management of Atlantic highly migratory species, and promoting US seafood safety while supporting seafood-related commerce and trade.
“One of the critical aspects of this new role will be supporting our fishing businesses and communities as they navigate through the challenges of COVID-19,” she said.
July 2, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced the appointment of 22 members to the regional fishery management councils that partner with NOAA Fisheries to manage marine fishery resources.
Established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, councils are responsible for developing region-specific fishery management plans that safeguard and enhance the nation’s fisheries resources. Council members represent diverse groups, including commercial and recreational fishing industries, environmental organizations, and academia. They are vital to fulfilling the act’s requirements to end overfishing, rebuild fish stocks, and manage them sustainably.
NOAA Fisheries works closely with the councils through the process of developing fishery management plans. We also review, approve, and implement the plans.
Each year, the Secretary of Commerce appoints approximately one-third of the total 72 appointed members to the eight regional councils. The Secretary selects members from nominations submitted by the governors of fishing states, territories and tribal governments.
Council members are appointed to both state-specific and regional seats—also known as obligatory and at-large seats, respectively. Council members serve a three-year term and may be reappointed to serve three consecutive terms.
June 16, 2020 — Two U.S. congressmen have filed a bill that would allow states to declare fishery disasters because of pandemics including COVID-19.
The legislation filed by U.S. Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) would update the Magnuson-Stevens Act to include pandemics as a disaster reason, which would open the door for additional funding.