Ff Fsia Myth Busters Fact Sheet

8/3/2019 Ff Fsia Myth Busters Fact Sheet

1/4

DONT TAKE THE BAIT!

www.EndOverishing.org

Recreational fshing has a negligible impacton ocean fsh populations.

MYTH

Big un, big deal. Recreational fshing can havea major impact on the health o fsh populations.

F A C T

It is hard or some people to imagine that recreational shing can

have much o an efect on the health o ocean sh populations,

particularly compared with the impact o commercial shing

Myths have persisted or years about the impact o recreational fshing on ocean fsh populations

and how to manage that impact. Most recently, these myths have resuraced as justifcation or

a new bill, H.R. 2304, the Fishery Science Improvement Act. Dont let these myths (summarized

in more detail below) disguise the fact that this legislation would put some of Americas most

valuable and vulnerable ocean fsh populations at risk o overfshing by exempting them rom

science-based catch limits and accountability measures. Congress should reject H.R. 2304 and

stand strong or the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).

vessels, which can bring in many thousands o pounds o

sh per trip. In reality, however, millions o individual anglers

catching a ew sh per trip can have a huge impact on their

target sh species.

In 1989, when the U.S. population was 247 million and only

birds tweeted, anglers took 15.7 million fshing trips in the Gul

o Mexico. Twenty years later, in 2009, when the U.S. population

was 307 million and satellite navigation and sophisticated sh

nders became widely available, anglers took 22.3 million fshing

Greateramberjack


2/4

trips in the Gul o Mexico, a 42 percent increase.2 e numbero individual anglers in the Gul has also risen, by 64 percent in

the past two decades. is increase is understandablethe U.S.

population is growing, and shing is unbut it has serious

implications or the health o the regions most popular sport sh.

For example, rom 1989 to 2009, recreational shermen took

approximately 62 percent o the total catch o greater amberjack.3

By 2009, the greater amberjack population was depleted to 34

percent o a healthy level because o decades o overshing.4

Limiting the number o fsh an angler or vesselcan take is enough; we dont need annual catchlimits and accountability measures.

MYTH

History has shown that enorceable catch limitsare the most eective way to prevent overfshing.

F A C T

Historically, recreational shing has been managed by baglimitsrestricting the number o sh individual anglers can keeprom a tripor vessel trip limits, not by constraining the totalamount o sh killed. ereore, i the number o shing trips or

anglers goes beyond anticipated levels, the number o sh killedcan ar exceed the target catch level, leading to overshing.

Science-based annual catch limits (ACLs), in tandem withaccountability measures i the ACLs are exceeded, guard againstovershing by providing an overall cap on catch. Managers useother tools that are tailored to the specic needs and managementgoals o the sheries to meet the ACLs. In the Southeast,managers are using ACLs in combination with measures such asbag limits and spawning season closures to manage many species,including black sea bass, gag grouper, red grouper, red snapper,snowy grouper, tilesh, and vermilion snapper.

Setting catch limits or fsh species lacking ullstock assessments amounts to guesswork.

MYTH

Scientifcally sound and proven methods to setannual catch limits or fsh populations without ullstock assessments are in use around the country.

F A C T

Inormation such as average catch and/or biological data

exists or every ederally managed sh population, including

MORE FISHING, LESS FISH1

Greater Amberjack and Recreational Fishing in the Gul o Mexico, 1989-2009

25

20

15

10

5

0

Millions

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

HealthyBiomass

Biomass(lbs.)

Number oFishing Trips

2 End Overishing


3/4

those lacking ull assessments. When stock assessments arent

available, scientists and managers rely on these other sources o

inormation to determine sustainable catch levels, including:

Basic biological inormation such as growth rates, age atmaturity, and reproductive potential, which are used todetermine a species susceptibility to overshing.

Average catch data and historical catch trends, which, orexample, can indicate uture problems i catch is declining.

Local knowledge and inormation about catch levels andbiology or similar species.

On the West Coast, sheries managers are using these

approaches to determine ACLs or the valuable Pacicgroundsh shery, where less than a third o groundsh haveassessments.5 In the Southeast, managers have set limits at ornear current catch levels or some data-limited species withstable levels o catch, such as cobia and wahoo.6 e NationalMarine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is providing additionalguidance to managers on models and tools or setting catchlimits or sh species lacking ull assessments.7

The legal requirement to set science-basedannual catch limits and accountability measures

has not resulted in increased resources or stockassessment science.

MYTH

Funds and resources or stock assessments andfsheries science are on the rise, thanks to theMSAs ACL requirement.

F A C T

Federal unding or sheries science has increased signicantly

since the MSA reauthorization in 2006, when Congress

mandated science-based ACLs to prevent overshing:8

Funding or stock assessments, which guide the setting o

catch limits by providing scientic analyses o the health osh populations and the amount o shing they can support,has more than doubled, rom $24.5 million in 2006 to $51.0

million appropriated in 2010.

Funding or fsheries statistics programs, which include the

collection o recreational shing data, has nearly doubled,

rom $12.6 million in 2006 to $21.1 million in 2010.

Funding or survey and monitoring projects, which provide

timely analysis o catch and shing efort, has increased by 63

percent, rom $14.6 million in 2006 to $23.8 million in 2010.

South Atlantic Black SeaBass: A Cautionary Tale

This popular recreational fsh has suered rom decades o

overfshing. Although assessments in 1991, 1996, and 2005

indicated the depleted status o black sea bass, managers

did not set enorceable catch limits. Instead, they relied

on indirect measures such as size and bag limits or the

recreational catch, and trip limits or the commercial sector.

Today, ater two ailed rebuilding plans based only on these

measures and no accountability i too many fsh were caught,

managers are fnally taking the necessary steps to restore

this fsh. These steps include science-based annual catch

limits and accountability measures such as halting fshing

earlier in the season i the quota is close to being met.

Ater 20 years o ailed management, these measures are

needed to fnally end overfshing and rebuild this valuable

fsh population.

Source: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 2011. Black Sea Bass Management

Overview. February 2011. .

www.EndOverishing .org 3


4/4

for more information, please contact: L C, Director of Federal Fisheries Policy, Pew Environment Group

phone:202-552-2065 | email:[email protected] | please visit our website for more resources: www.EO.org.

4 End Overishing

Endnotes

1 Graph contains biomass data provided by Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) sta Sept. 28, 2011.

Trips data are rom National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Recreational Fishing Statistics Queries. Accessed Sept. 28, 2011. Fishing

trips means number o all recreational fshing trips in the Gul o Mexico or all species as estimated by

the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey, years 1989-2009.2 NMFS. 2011. Recreational Fishing Statistics Queries. Accessed Sept. 28, 2011.3 Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR). 2011. SEDAR 9 Stock Assessment Update Report.

Table 4.1.3.1, Page 49. Table 3.2.3, Page 35 (estimated recreational and commercial landings). February

2011. .4 Biomass data provided by SEFSC sta Sept. 28, 2011.5 E.J. Dick and A.D. MacCall. 2010. Estimates o Sustainable Yield or 50 Data-Poor Stocks in the Pacifc

Coast Groundfsh Fishery Management Plan. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Technical Memorandum. June 2010. .6 Scientifc and Statistical Committee (SCC) Meeting Report, South Atlantic Fishery Management Counc

April 2011. .7 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-61

2011. Calculating Acceptable Biological Catch or Stocks That Have Reliable Catch Data Only. May 2011

.8 NOAA Budget Ofce. 2011. Presidents Budgets and Blue Books: 2006-2011. .9 NOAA press release. NOAA Commissions New Fisheries Survey Ship and Dedicates New Fisheries Servic

Building in Pascagoula, Miss. Nov. 6, 2009. . Oral testimony o Eric Schwaab, NOAA assistant administrator or fsheries, at the U.S

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportations Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and

Coast Guard Subcommittee hearing on MSA implementation. Mar. 8, 2011. Page 26. .

NOAAPiscesship:NOAA

In the Southeast, NMFS commissioned the research ship Pisces and dedicated a new lab in Mississippi to support sheries

research in the Southeast and the Caribbean in 2009 and added six stock assessment scientists to the Southeast Fisheries ScienceCenter in 2010.9 Taking away the legal requirement to set catch limits on key species in the Southeast could jeopardize these gain

because NMFS might redirect resources toward regions where the catch limit requirement remains.

Ater decades o mismanagement that resulted in plummeting sh populations and lost livelihoods, Congress acted in 2006 to

strengthen the MSA by requiring an end to overshing. Although the skeptics had their doubts, we are nearing the nish line, and

soon overshing should be a thing o the past. Congress should reject H.R. 2304 because it would undermine this national

success story. Instead, it should support real eforts to improve sheries science by investing in research, data collection, and

monitoring programs o the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Ff Fsia Myth Busters Fact Sheet

Documents

Transcript of Ff Fsia Myth Busters Fact Sheet