An unscientific ruling on flounder conservation

Fluke, aka summer flounder.

The Trump administration doesn’t have much respect for science, so it wasn’t all that surprising that it has rejected the science-based ruling of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The ruling was that New Jersey has been violating a conservation plan for summer flounder (aka fluke). 

The effect  of the administration’s (via the Commerce Department) order is to letGarden State fishermen harvest a lot more summer flounder. This is the first time that an administration has rejected fishing-control guidance by the commission. It seems probable that fishing of other stressed species will also be allowed to expand.

The commission is an interstate organization set up by Congress to help conserve fisheries. It has found that the fluke population is 42 percent below the sustainable level. In a variant of the “tragedy of the commons,’’ and  an emphasis on maximizing short-term profit, the administration’s gutting of science-based fishing limits in the New Jersey case threatens  to eviscerate fishing stocks in the not very long-term. The fluke population off New Jersey  has fallen 25 percent since 2010.

The administration’s decision is a political one, to please the recreational and commercial fishing industry.

Peter Baker: Illegal N.E. fishing hurts future stocks

 

"Outside My Window'' (Woods Hole, Mass.), copyright Bobby Baker Photography.

An aromatic site.

This  article comes courtesy of ecoRI News

BOSTON

We’ve seen a rash of stories recently on illegal fishing in the Northeast, as enforcement officials take action on unreported catch. Some of the numbers are eye-popping. One bust involved 56,000 pounds of illegally caught and unreported summer flounder, also known as fluke. Another charge alleged 86,000 unreported pounds of the same fish over three years.

Research indicates that those figures are no fluke — pardon the pun. In fact, these recent incidents represent only a small fraction of illegal and unreported catch. Studies show that most illegal fishing in the region involves cheating on rules regarding the amount, type or size of fish allowed to be caught, misreporting in dealer reports, or fishing in places set aside to protect fish habitat and spawning areas. Few people realize the extent of illegal fishing, the harm it can do to ocean resources, and the ways in which this cheating undermines efforts to measure and sustainably manage fisheries.

For example, a study published in the journal Marine Policy in 2010 estimated that 12-24 percent of New England’s total catch of groundfish — bottom-dwelling fish such as cod, flounder and haddock — was taken illegally. How much fish is that? Well, when the authors took the midpoint of that estimate (18 percent) and applied it to the actual landings from the time the study was conducted, they found that the illegal catch would amount to more than 11 million pounds of fish, worth about $13 million.

And what if those illegally caught fish had instead been left in the water where they could grow and reproduce? The researchers give an estimate of that loss, too. Over five years those fish could have contributed some 65 million pounds to the overall biomass of the groundfish stock. That extra supply would be a welcome bounty today, when many groundfish populations are so low that the fishery has been declared a federal disaster, requiring tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer assistance.

Fisheries managers are responding to some problem areas. In the mid-Atlantic, for example, officials recently suspended use of a controversial “set-aside” program that had allegedly been exploited to hide catch that exceeded quotas. New England’s fishery managers have started looking into reports of vessels employing net-liners and other fishing-gear modifications that result in fish being caught under the legal size limit.

This “missing catch” from illegal fishing also complicates the work of scientists and managers who need an accurate picture of what’s really happening on the water. The actual mortality, or amount of fish killed, is a key piece of information for estimating fish populations and setting sustainable fishing levels.

The Marine Policy study found that even commercial fishermen assume that about 10 percent to 15 percent of their colleagues are routinely breaking the law. The researchers say that the odds of getting caught are slim, while the payoff from cheating is “nearly five times the economic value of expected penalties.”

All this illicit activity takes a toll on those fishermen who do follow the rules. The researchers surveyed fishermen and discovered that many believe that illegal fishing “will prevent them from ever benefiting from stock rebuilding programs.” This finding underscores one of the greatest damages. Hardworking fishermen who do the right thing as stewards of the public resource are cheated of their just reward of higher catches in the future. Although enforcement may be unpopular to some, it is critical for any well-managed fishery.

Peter Baker directs The Pew Charitable Trusts’ U.S. ocean-conservation efforts in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.