APRIL Net Loss to Net Gain: Improving Pacific Coast Fisheries

Transcription

1 APRIL 2008 Net Loss to Net Gain: Improving Pacific Coast Fisheries

2 Net Loss to Net Gain: Improving Pacific Coast Fisheries April

3 Acknowledgements Written by Michael Gravitz, Oceans Advocate Environment California Research & Policy Center, April , Environment California Research and Policy Center Cover photos: Left side - Fish (mature Blue Rockfish) in kelp forest by Mike Rauch, Shutterstock, Top right Fishing boats at Fisherman s Wharf in San Francisco, Mike Brake, Shutterstock Bottom right - Sardines, Alex Bramwell, Shutterstock This report is made possible with funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided editorial review. Any factual errors are strictly the responsibility of the author. For additional copies of this report, please visit our website ( or send $20 check payable to Environment California Research & Policy Center to the following address: Environment California Research and Policy Center 3435 Wilshire Boulevard, #385 Los Angeles, CA

4 Net Loss to Net Gain: Improving Pacific Coast Fisheries Summary America s oceans are home to whales, dolphins, sea turtles, fish and an enormous variety of other sea life. But today our oceans are in trouble. Destructive overfishing, pollution, global warming and habitat damage are putting important marine animals at risk. Many populations are in serious decline. The result of this poor management is a drastic reduction in fishing opportunities for commercial and recreational fishermen. On the West Coast, about one in ten (9% or 5 out of 53) of all federally managed fish stocks for which there is adequate information are overfished. 1 The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) is one of eight regional fishery management councils that cover U.S. coasts. Together with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Pacific Council is supposed to determine how much of each type of fish can be caught on a sustainable basis and establish other types of fishing rules. Overfished typically means that a fish population has been reduced to below 25% of its original size. When eight out of ten fish of any kind are missing from the ocean, it has profoundly negative effects on the rest of the ocean s animals. The ecosystem is unbalanced and predators may not find enough to eat. Overfishing means that a fish stock is being caught faster than it can replace itself and it is therefore heading toward overfished status or not recovering to healthy levels. A fish stock is typically a single species of fish but in some cases it is a species located in a specific region that does not mix with populations of the same species elsewhere. A known fish stock is one with adequate assessment data to know whether the population is depleted or overfished and whether fish are being caught faster than the population can reproduce. There are two salient and conflicting facts about fish stocks in the Pacific. First, unlike most other councils, the Pacific Council does not have a record of allowing chronic overfishing on known fish stocks year after year. 2 Second, the overwhelming majority of Pacific fish stocks have not been assessed and their status with regard to overfishing or being overfished is unknown. 3 The first fact reflects an important achievement for the thirty percent of fish stocks that are being monitored. The second means that fishermen could be driving some fish stocks on the West Coast toward depletion and the Pacific Council would not know it. For example, fishermen caught 108 million pounds of market squid off the West Coast in 2006, but whether squid has been overfished or is experiencing overfishing is not known. 4 Even when new evidence of depleted stocks emerges, as in the case of Blue Rockfish, the Pacific Council can be slow to act. In an effort to improve fisheries management nationwide, Congress revised the primary law governing fishing in U.S. oceans, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, at the end of The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires the National Marine Fisheries Service and the regional fishery management councils to follow new conservation standards. The rules, called National Standard 1, on how to achieve these standards are now under development. This report recommends that the new rules follow several important conservation principles. Most importantly, if the National Standard 1 rules are strong and the Pacific Council follows them, the fisheries of the Pacific Coast will improve. Strong, clear rules will lead to faster rebuilding of overfished rockfish stocks, more conserving catch limits for all stocks, tangible consequences when fishing limits are exceeded, and pressure to perform more stock assessments so that the health of more stocks is known. 3

5 Threats to Ocean Health The world s oceans face multiple threats and as a result, the health of the oceans has declined. U.S and Canadian scientists recently completed the most comprehensive study to date of all impacts on the ocean which showed that over 40 percent of the world s oceans have been heavily affected by one or more threats such as overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction. 5 That means almost one third of the earth s surface has been degraded. In another recent report by the United Nations, scientists concluded that as many as 80 percent of the world s most important fish stocks are exploited beyond or close to their harvest capacity and that extensive damage from destructive bottom trawling has already occurred in over half of the sea beds in coastal areas. 6 Taken together, these reports suggest that a combination of global warming, pollution, habitat destruction from bottom trawling, and overfishing are pushing many fish stocks into depletion. This report focuses on overfishing, a significant threat to U.S. oceans, and the fishery management decisions on the Pacific Coast. Status of Fish in the Pacific The Pacific Fishery Management Council manages fishing in federal waters (3-200 miles offshore) off three states: California, Oregon, and Washington. According to the most recent government data, the Pacific Council is responsible for a total of 182 fish stocks. Seventy-one percent (129) of those stocks are not assessed, meaning scientists do not know whether populations of those species are at healthy levels or are being caught faster than they can reproduce. 7 Of the 53 stocks with sufficient information to determine their status, five have been overfished, or are approaching overfished status, and two are experiencing overfishing though these two are managed primarily by another council. 8 Table 1: Status of West Coast Fish Stocks in 2007 Overfished Overfishing** Bocaccio Bigeye Tuna Cowcod Yellowfin Tuna Darkblotched Rockfish Yelloweye Rockfish Klamath River Fall Chinook Salmon* Source: National Marine Fisheries Service *Approaching an overfished condition **Control of tuna is shared with Western Pacific Fishery Management Council and catch in areas controlled by the Pacific Council is a small portion of total. Many of the fish listed as overfished or headed in that direction have been in trouble for decades. For example, only 13 percent of the bocaccio population remains and it will take that stock 15 years to get back to minimally healthy levels, which is defined as 40 percent of the original population. 9 Bocaccio were once a widespread commercially and recreationally valuable species in California. The Pacific Council allowed overfishing to occur and now bocaccio are at a dangerously low level. Because of overfishing that went on for decades, commercial and recreational fishermen on the West Coast have fewer fish to catch and more restrictions on when and where they can go fishing. Why Healthy Fish Populations Are Important Coastal fishing, the communities and the people it supported, and seafood have all shaped the culture of the Pacific Coast for generations. The West Coast was home to legendary salmon runs. 4

6 Now many of these runs are compromised by dams, habitat destruction and coastal pollution. Dungeness crab, rockfish, and sardines were part of the fabric of many coastal communities like Monterey, CA. But the health of our oceans and some fish populations has declined. Healthy fish populations provide an important economic engine to coastal communities through both commercial and recreational fishing. The Pacific commercial fishery (CA, OR, WA) brought in over $450 million dollars from direct sales off vessels in Commercial fishermen in California, Oregon, and Washington brought in $130 million, $108 million, and $216 million dollars worth of fish respectively in Twenty years ago, in 1986, the same states brought in over $600 million (adjusted to 2006 dollars), one third more value. 10 The fishery has declined in value. These amounts do not include any economic benefit from processing the fish onshore or wholesale or retail jobs connected to subsequent sales of the fish. The value of saltwater recreational fishing in the three West Coast states in 2006 based on direct retail sales alone was nearly $1.8 billion. This includes travel, lodging, food, equipment, and miscellaneous expenses related to fishing like memberships, licenses, and marina fees. If you add the indirect jobs and sales triggered by the direct expenditures, an effect known as the multiplier impact, the total impact of saltwater recreations fishing comes to almost $3.1 billion. 11 In 2006, there were approximately 27,000 jobs tied to recreational saltwater fishing in the Pacific. Table 2: Size and Value of Recreational Marine Fishing by State State Saltwater Retail Sales Total Multiplier Jobs Anglers ($Millions) Impact ($Millions) California 761,000 $1,290 $2,283 19,900 Oregon 150,000 $154 $250 2,500 Washington 286,000 $345 $550 4,600 Total 1,197,000 $1,789 $3,083 27,000 Source: American Sportfishing Association A History of Mismanagement Gives Way to Improvement The Pacific Council s management of the groundfish fishery (e.g., rockfishes) in the 1980s and 1990s was so ineffective that the federal government declared the Pacific ground fish industry a disaster in The disaster resulted in massive job losses and payments by the federal government to unemployed fishermen and processors to mitigate the financial damage. As demonstrated in Table 3, overfishing went on for so long and was so severe that some fish stocks will take several decades to recover. This is especially true for the rockfishes that live long, grow slowly and are late to sexually mature and reproduce. 5

7 Table 3: Overfished (O) and Rebuilding (R) Fish Stocks Managed by Pacific Council Species Percentage of Population Remaining Rebuilding Time- Years Needed to Restore Population to Healthy Levels* Population Trend Since 2006 Bocaccio (O) slight increase Canary Rockfish (R) no significant change Cowcod Rockfish (O) 5 57 significant decrease Darkblotched Rockfish (O) increasing Pacific Ocean Perch (R) 31 9 increasing Widow Rockfish (R) 36 7 increasing Yelloweye Rockfish (O) slight decrease Source: Marine Fish Conservation Network *A healthy population is typically defined as 40% of the original population size in a rebuilding plan. Cowcod Source: Milton Love, Fishbase at The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that when the Pacific Council discovers that a fish stock is experiencing overfishing (i.e., fishermen are catching fish faster than they can reproduce but the population is not necessarily depleted yet), it must stop the overfishing. In addition, the Pacific Council may not ever set annual catch limits in a management plan or rebuilding plan that exceed the overfishing level. In most cases the Pacific Council has done this well; instances of overfishing in the Pacific are rare. The law also requires that when a fish stock is discovered to be overfished, the Pacific Council must create a plan and set annual catch levels so that the fishery is rebuilt as quickly as possible and not longer than 10 years. The only exception is if the biology of the fish doesn t allow recovery in that timeframe. The Pacific Council has not been consistent in following this part of the law. There are several fish stocks such as Cowcod, andyelloweye Rockfish which are classified as overfished, have lengthy rebuilding timeframes and stable or declining numbers. The Pacific Council should be managing these species for faster recovery as the law requires. In some cases, the Pacific Council has not adjusted catch levels to ensure that the fish stock rebuilds as rapidly as possible. In other cases the Pacific Council allows too many fish to be caught incidentally in other fisheries. 12 Fishermen often catch unintended species of fish and other sea life in their nets or lines when they are aiming to catch a target species because fishing can be a fairly indiscriminant depending on the technique used. When that happens the unintended catch is called bycatch. There are effective ways of reducing bycatch such as 6

8 changing fishing method, time, and place; but the Pacific Council needs to require them and it often does not. In another recent instance, the Pacific Council has for now taken a hands off approach to management of Blue Rockfish despite evidence that the fish stock may be in trouble from overfishing. The Pacific Council received its first Blue Rockfish stock assessment in November The assessment said that the stock had been overfished in the past and might be experiencing overfishing now. 13 Catch in 2006 exceeded the fishing mortality that the base model defined as overfishing; and the fish stock appears to have a population only slightly larger than the overfished level. The Pacific Council reluctantly voted to accept the fish stock assessment but took no further action to provide for immediate protection of this fish stock. Where there is uncertainty about the health of a fish stock, poor data, or no useful assessment at all, the Pacific Council should take a precautionary approach and create lower fishing limits that keep fishing well under a dangerous level. Recommendations For the National Marine Fisheries Service In December 2006, Congress unanimously approved changes to federal laws governing U.S. fisheries by reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act. Currently, the Bush administration is preparing rules to implement the new law. The administration should enact strong, clear rules that implement Congress intention for overfishing to end. The regulations should follow these important conservation principles: There must be strong conservation rules that sustain healthy fish populations, including numerical annual catch limits on the amount of fish that can be caught. Catch limits should be set to absolutely minimize the potential for overfishing. Because stock assessments are uncertain to a degree and the ocean is an unpredictable and dynamic place, catch limits should be set with plenty of room to stay clear of the overfishing level. Decisions about annual catch should be based on science, not self interest. Independent science advisors must set limits on the amount of fish caught. In the past, fishery managers often ignored the advice of independent scientists and the limits were set at unsustainable, high levels. The rules need to be enforced. If catch limits are exceeded, there must be consequences. Fishing should be stopped or catch limits lowered for the next fishing season. Fishery managers and fishermen should be held accountable. Fishery management councils and the National Marine Fisheries Service should prepare thorough environmental reviews of management decisions and allow for public comments on these analyses. Decisions on fishery plans should take into account the findings of environmental reviews rather than doing reviews after the decisions have already been made. For the Pacific Fishery Management Council The changes enacted into the new Magnuson-Stevens Act were in direct response to the failure of the Pacific Council and other councils to prevent overfishing, quickly rebuild overfished populations, and act in accord with scientific advice. The new law requires the Pacific Council to 7

9 prevent overfishing by setting precautionary catch levels based on scientific advice. The Pacific Council may not set the catch level higher than the safe level recommended by its scientific advisors. When overfishing does occur there should be some accountability measure or consequence for the fishery such as closure for the remainder of the season or lower annual catch limits next season to make up for the overage. The Pacific Council must stop allowing business as usual to go on. Very lengthy rebuilding periods for some rockfishes could be shortened if tighter limits were put on incidental catch of these depleted stocks. The Pacific Council must try to narrow the gap between known and unknown fish stocks. Knowing the health status of only 30 percent of the fish stocks is no longer good enough. 8

10 Endnotes: 1. National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 2007 Status of U.S. Fisheries: Fourth Quarter Update, February 4, 2008 in Table A: Summary of Stock Status for 3FSSI Stocks, Table B: Summary of Stock Status for non-fssi Stocks, and Table C: Species Managed Under International Agreement. Data available at: Marine Fish Conservation Network, Taking Stock: The Cure for Chronic Overfishing, 2007, pg. 7. Available at: 3. Op Cit, #1. 4. Based on data from query of California landings by all species individually for Query at: on 3/19/ Benjamin Halpern et al., A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems, Science, February 15, 2008, pgs Christian Nellemann, Stefan Hain, and Jackie Alder, In Dead Water: Merging of Climate Change with Pollution, Over-Harvest, and Infestations in the World s Fishing Grounds, United Nations Environment Programme, 2008, pgs. 10 & Marine Fish Conservation Network, Pacific Fishery Management Council Report: 2007, 2008, Table 2 and Figure 2, pg. 3. Available at: 8. Op. Cit, #1. 9. Op. Cit, #7, pg Data from query of Pacific by State for value of landings in landings based on Pacific by State query for Queries performed 3/21/08 and 4/2/08 at: dollars adjusted with inflation calculator at Bureau of Labor Statistics found at to be equal to 2006 dollars American Sportfishing Association, Sportfishing in America; An Economic Engine and Conservation Powerhouse, January pgs. 7 & 10. Available at Op. Cit, #7, pg Meisha Key et al., The 2007 Assessment of Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) in California, November pgs Available at: 9