Oceans 11 – Dalesandro
Fisheries & Aquaculture Portfolio – Item 9
Fish Stocks Bounce Back
Instructions: Read the article that follows, “Fish Stocks Bounce Back”, by Brian
Handwerk. Then answer the questions below and provide a
response to the article. Include your answers and response in your
Fisheries and Aquaculture portfolio, due June 12th.
Questions:
1) What fraction of US fish stocks that were devastated by overfishing have
begun to bounce back?
2) What do the authors of the NRDC report on overfishing claim their results
prove?
3) How does Brad Sewell, one of the report’s authors, explain the “positive news”?
4) What advice does Glen Tromble of the NOAA have for the researchers
studying these fish stocks?
5) List one species that has not recovered. What is the main problem, according
to both Sewell and Tromble?
6) Explain the controlversial measures put into place to save the New England
cod fishery.
7) What does the Alaska groundfish fishery show, according to Tromble?
8) What are Brad Sewell’s hopes for the future?
9) What is your opinion on the issue of fish stocks and overgfishing? Explain in
a paragraph or more.
10) Write a brief (1 paragraph) response to this article and assignment.
Decimated U.S. Fish Stocks Enjoy Big
Bounce Back
New report highlights the successes – and
challenges – of fisheries management
by Brian Handwerk, National Geographic staff
Fishermen
try their luck
for bluefish
off Cape
Hatteras,
North
Carolina.
Two-thirds of the closely monitored U.S. fish species once devastated by
overfishing have bounced back in a big way thanks to management plans
instituted 10 to 15 years ago, a new study says. And fish aren't the only ones
celebrating. Recovering populations can mean more revenue and jobs for some
fishermen – but unfortunately success hasn't been universal.
Authors of a new Natural Resources Defense Council report said the results
prove that critically overfished species can be rebuilt, even from very low levels,
when Mother Nature is given a chance to recover. That's good news in a world
where rampant overfishing is a critical concern.
"This demonstrates that when we trace the historic arch of these fisheries in
which rebuilding requirements were put in place 15 years ago, we see real
positive news. We see populations that were depleted or in decline turned
around and rebuilt or well on their way to rebuilding," said principal author Brad
Sewell.
"It's not 100 percent. It's two-thirds, so it's not unbridled good news but it does
show the effectiveness of a law that has had its share of controversy," he added.
The study used in-depth stock assessments and other data from NOAA's National
Marine Fisheries Service to chart the progress of stocks managed under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. That law was
revamped by Congress in 1996, in an attempt to address plunging fish
populations around America's coastlines, mandating that stocks be rebuilt within
a decade (some were granted exceptions).
The NRDC report charts progress for the 44 stocks that have sufficient
population and catch data under the act and found nearly two-thirds, some 28
stocks, have now been designated as fully rebuilt or as having made significant
progress toward sustainable populations. The study doesn't include species not
managed under Magnuson-Stevens, those for which recent stock assessments
aren't available, or those fished internationally.
Despite those omissions, the success of so many rebuilding plans has delivered
an economic boon to many fishermen, Sewell said. Gross commercial fishing
revenues from the 28 rebuilt stocks were 54 percent higher when adjusted for
inflation during the 2008-2010 period than they were when rebuilding began.
"The system overall is working and making progress," said Galen Tromble, of the
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) fisheries office. "We
just have to keep doing the science, collecting all the data we can, and then
adjusting our management accordingly."
Fishery Successes and Struggles
The report also reveals some rough patches. Eight of the fish stocks evaluated
have made only limited progress and eight others saw very little progress at all.
Regional trends show some successes, like the mid-Atlantic's bluefish, flounder,
and black sea bass, while other species have struggled, like greater amberjack in
the Gulf of Mexico.
Part of the problem, both Tromble and Sewell noted, was continued overfishing
in some areas.
"We have had stocks in which we put a plan in place, but when we evaluated
what actually happened we found that the stock was still subject to overfishing,"
Tromble said. "That's in some cases because our expectation of what our
management would do turned out to be not quite right. Just assessing stocks,
monitoring populations, and estimating how much can be caught is an improving
science but far from a foolproof one. It's not easy to count fish in the ocean."
Fishing regulations also govern dynamic natural ecosystems that undergo their
own changes—some perhaps predictable but others simply unexpected. Some
struggling stocks may have been hit with environmental factors that produced
several poor reproductive years that stunted rebuilding, while others may have
enjoyed particularly good years over the past decade.
"Georges Bank haddock has had a couple of great recruitment years that helped
it to recover," Sewell explained. "Georges Bank cod hasn't had a really good
recruitment year in a few decades."
"Rebuilding plans are based on what's happened in the past, averages of
estimated recruitment, growth, and other historic factors that can be projected
into the future," Tromble said. "But future conditions might be worse than
average over ten years and we can't force a stock to rebuild simply by reducing
fishing. Conditions during that period have to be favorable."
Crashing Cod
The challenges of fishery management have been vividly illustrated in the case of
New England cod fisheries, the iconic species whose alarming decline helped
spur Congress to act back in the mid-1990s.
The cod that once filled New England waters and coffers have been ravaged to
the point that NOAA regional administrator John Bullard said at a January
meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council they were heading
"seemingly inexorably, to oblivion."
In January the council made the controversial decision to slash cod catch quotas
in an attempt to save the species and perhaps provide something for future
fishermen to catch. But the limits seem likely to put many out of the business for
good. Gulf of Maine cod catches will be reduced nearly 80 percent from last
year's numbers for three years, and Georges Bank by 61 percent next year. As
bad as those numbers sound the reality is worse because 2012 numbers were
already historically low due to dwindling stocks.
Gulf of Maine cod catches that were 8,000 metric tons ten years ago will be only
1,550 metric tons over the next few years. Georges Bank cod, once 12,000
metric tons, will next year be at 2,000 metric tons.
Maggie Raymond, executive director of Associated Fisheries of Maine, said the
drastic measures left many cod fishermen, processors, and other fisherydependent businesses she represents uncertain about management efforts they
haven't seen pay off.
"Fishermen in our association question the constantly changing results of
fisheries science," she said. "For example, just a few years ago, fisheries
scientists and managers said that Gulf of Maine cod were at the highest biomass
level in 30 years. The fishing industry fished within the scientifically set quotas,
and despite that compliance, today the Gulf of Maine cod population is,
according to the same scientists, at a record low. This volatility in advice makes
business planning very difficult for fishermen, and not surprisingly leads to
frustration and some level of disbelief about the quality of the science.
"NOAA Fisheries has acknowledged that there are as yet unexplained
environmental factors that are inhibiting rebuilding," she continued. "Industry
would argue that increased water temperature and inflated predator populations,
such as dogfish and seals, are inhibiting stock rebuilding."
Fishing's Unsteady Waters
Whatever the causes of collapse, many fishermen have been hit hard. "The New
England groundfish fleet has shrunk significantly over the past several years, and
those who remain have already made huge sacrifices and have substantial
financial investment at stake," Raymond said. "Most fishermen's homes are tied
to the debt, so that reality adds to the current level of anxiety about the future."
Galen Tromble stressed that any fishery includes the people in it, not just the
fish, making such decisions extremely difficult. "We have a mission to provide
sustainable seafood from our marine fishery resources, so we're trying to achieve
balance. On one hand, conserving the resource so it's sustainable and will be
there for the future, but also trying to achieve yield. We have an objective to
catch fish, but not to catch too much."
Tromble said examples like Alaska's groundfish fishery show that well-managed
stocks can be highly productive and yield the stability fishermen need.
"Populations go up and down but they do that from a robust level," he said. "It's
quite a different challenge to sustain the fishery economically when you have
very low abundance levels, not capable of producing a high yield, and you're
further reducing them in the short term to try to rebuild the stock."
Despite the uncertain future for New England's cod fishermen and others,
NRDC's Sewell stressed how successful the rebuilding efforts have been in most
other locales over a decade and a half. He noted that he and his organization
hoped the successful new regulations won't be watered down or reversed by
politicians in the next few years.
"We're hoping that as these successes become apparent that interest in
weakening or modifying the conservation laws will abate," he said. "I hope that
folks will take pride in what's been accomplished so far and decide to finish the
job and protect these fish stocks."