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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 12
August 2005
NMFS set to change overfishing guidelines
SILVER SPRING, MD - National Standard 1 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which requires federal fishery managers to end overfishing and rebuild fish stocks, is getting something of a makeover.
While the standard itself won’t change, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing significant modifications to its guidelines for interpreting what the standard means and how federal fishery managers must go about complying with it.
As described in a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on June 22, the revised guidelines would require regional fishery management councils to do the following in any new fishery management plan (FMP) or FMP amendment:
End overfishing “beginning in the first year” except if certain conditions specified in the Magnuson-Stevens Act come into play, such as the biology of the stock, the needs of fishing communities, recommendations by international organizations, or ecosystem considerations;
Set a target catch level and an absolute limit for both fishing mortality and biomass;
Set a “more precautionary and biologically conservation-oriented” target time for stock rebuilding instead of using the maximum allowable rebuilding time, which, in most cases is 10 years; and
Keep plans in effect until the stock is completely rebuilt and take additional action if necessary to ensure rebuilding is achieved.
Other proposed changes would:
When little scientific information is available, group fish stocks that live together, have similar life histories, and are caught by the same gear into “stock assemblages” for assessment and management purposes; and
Replace the term “overfished” with the term “depleted” to reflect the fact that not all declines in fish abundance are due to fishing.
Some explanation
NMFS Deputy Director Rebecca Lent explained the proposals during a June 22 press conference.
She said an important emphasis of the proposed guidelines was ending overfishing in the first year of an FMP or amendment. Current NMFS guidelines basically only state that if a stock or stock complex is overfished, the council must specify a time period for rebuilding.
The proposal to set both fishing mortality and biomass targets and limits represents an important change from the current guidelines that rely on stock “thresholds,” Lent said.
“The new guidelines would set a target and a limit. The target is something to be achieved. The limit is a red flag, something to be avoided,” she said. “This is a change that we feel is more conservation-oriented.”
As for the Magnuson-Stevens Act requirement to rebuild fish stocks in a timeframe not to exceed 10 years except under certain conditions, NMFS is proposing to speed up the rebuilding deadline in some cases and extend it in others, depending on the life span of the fish being managed.
Lent said the agency was proposing this change because the councils tend to take the maximum amount of time they can get away with to rebuild fish stocks.
“Right now, the standard practice is to use the maximum allowable rebuilding timeframe,” she said. “We’re setting a default target time to rebuild that would be about half way between the minimum and maximum.”
Concerns, confusion
The general reaction to the announcement was wariness. The proposed guidelines are extremely complicated – 21 pages packed with acronyms, definitions, exceptions, and mathematical equations.
The Groundfish Group of Associated Fisheries of Maine was bringing in a scientist and a lawyer to take a look at the document before submitting its comments.
“The proposed rule is very complex and significant,” said spokesman Maggie Raymond.
Peter Baker, campaign director for the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, pointed out that proposed guideline changes allow a stock to be at a lower level to promote optimum yield (OY) in another stock. While this acknowledges the difficulty of requiring all fish stocks to be at maximum sustainable yield levels at the same time, it could create problems.
“It works, but only if you happen to fish on the species that’s being maintained at OY,” Baker said. “I think the agency did this (revision) with the greatest of intentions but the devil is in the details.”
Georges Bank yellowtail?
In New England, most species are already managed by rebuilding plans. One stock, however, that could be subjected to the new guidelines is Georges Bank yellowtail. The idea of having to end overfishing in one year on that stock is very sobering indeed.
“We anticipate having to do a rebuilding plan based on the latest assessment,” said one fishery manager. “That would affect all fishing on Georges Bank.”
Portland, ME seller’s rep and former New England Fishery Management Council member Barbara Stevenson said, “I think the new changes are going to be a disaster. Immediately stopping overfishing is much more problematic than the 10-year (rebuilding) time limit.”
Jim O’Malley, executive director of the East Coast Fisheries Federation, has been campaigning for years to convince NMFS to adopt policies more in line with the intent of Congress when it passed the Sustainable Fisheries Act in 1996.
Regardless of how the National Standard 1 guidelines turn out, he said they are only part of the effective and equitable fishery management equation.
“What really matters,” O’Malley said, “is the attitude of the leadership at NMFS, at every level.”
The deadline for comments on the proposed rule is Aug. 22. For more information, call Mark Millikin, NMFS senior fishery management specialist, at (301) 713-2341 or e-mail him at <mark.millikin@noaa.gov>.
Lorelei Stevens
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