NOAA proposes new fishery management guidelines </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 4:12 PM on Thursday, June 30, 2005

NOAA proposes new fishery management guidelines

Cristy Fry

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service has proposed improved guidelines to help fishery managers implement National Standard One, or NS1, of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the standard that guides the regional councils in implementing rebuilding plans for depleted and over-fished stocks. NS1 is one of 10 national standards established by Congress that provide a framework for the eight regional councils managing fisheries in federal waters. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is the federal body applying these national standards in Alaska waters. NOAA Fisheries provides guidelines for consistent interpretation of these standards by the councils.

These proposed guidelines are intended to help the councils increase consistency in how the definitions of "depleted" and "over-fished" are applied. Guidelines for NS1 were last revised in 1998. Since then, the councils have developed 49 rebuilding plans for the nation's depleted fish stocks.

"NOAA Fisheries Service is pleased to provide this improved guidance to the councils as they make the tough decisions necessary to prevent over-fishing and rebuild depleted fisheries," said Bill Hogarth, director of NOAA Fisheries Service, in a press release. "The new guidelines will result in more immediate benefits to marine ecosystems while maintaining a reasonable amount of flexibility to address the needs of fishing communities."

The proposed guidelines would apply to any new fishery management plan and amendments to existing rebuilding plans. The public may make comments on the proposed new guidelines through Aug. 22. Comments may be sent by e-mail to: nationalstandard1@noaa.gov or to Mark R. Millikin, NOAA Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Room 13357, Silver Spring, Md. 20910.

Under the proposed new guidelines:

Councils would end over-fishing within the first year of a rebuilding plan, except under certain conditions specified by law in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. These conditions include the biology of the stock, the needs of fishing communities, recommendations by international organizations and the interaction of the over-fished stock within the marine ecosystem.

Councils would set the target catch, or optimum yield, for a fishery at less than the maximum sustainable yield. This change would reduce the risk of over-fishing by providing a buffer between the target fishing rate and the rate that would produce the maximum sustainable yield.

Councils would set a more conservation-oriented midway point as the target time to rebuild, instead of the current common practice of using the maximum allowable rebuilding time frame. Fish stocks for which there is little known scientific information would be grouped into stock assemblages for assessment and management purposes. The criteria for a stock assemblage would include species that live together, have similar life histories and are caught by the same gear.

Rebuilding plans would not expire and would remain in effect until the stock is rebuilt. The new guidelines specify that if a rebuilding plan is not achieving the expected result, councils should take additional action to ensure success. The term "over-fished" would be replaced with "depleted" to reflect that fish population declines are not wholly dependent on fishing. The term "depleted" takes into account environmental variations from year to year — such as high predator abundance, low breeding year, environmental phenomenon and natural disasters.

Area M salmon fishermen voluntarily stood down earlier this month to avoid high concentrations of chum salmon moving through the district. According to the Anchorage Daily News, 24 seiners working in the Shumagin Islands pulled their nets on June 11 during the sockeye fishery when they began experiencing unusually high chum catches, as many as 4-1 chums to sockeyes. Stung by previous Board of Fisheries decisions to severely limit their fishing time in June to allow chums to pass through the area, fishermen saw it as a public relations move. "We're scared to death of committing political suicide," Melvin Larsen, a Sand Point seiner, told the ADN. Fishermen in Western Alaska have accused Area M of intercepting chums bound for the Yukon/Kuskokwim systems, which have experienced poor runs in recent years. The Board of Fisheries eliminated the cap on chum catches for the area and loosened fishing time restrictions in 2001, a controversial move that raised cries of protest from Western Alaska, but that was supported by science. According to the ADN, Area M fishermen adamantly deny that their chum bycatch has harmed Western Alaska salmon returns, and they note scientific studies showing the chums are headed not only to Alaska rivers but also to Japan and Russia.

Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978, and has also designed and built gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and sablefish, and gillnets salmon in Upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist.

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