The first NOAA Fisheries Northeast Region Recreational Fishing Town Hall Call was held on June 3rd, during National Fishing and Boating Week (June 1-9). The call was initiated by NOAA’s Northeast Regional Office and Northeast Fisheries Science Center in order to engage the recreational fisheries community by holding a conference call where anyone can phone in and ask questions about NOAA Fisheries programs and actions. John Bullard, NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator, and Russell Brown, Deputy Science and Research Director, were on the conference call. Each made a statement about recreational fisheries issues and then took questions from the callers.
The opening statements touched on how each had recently enjoyed recreational fishing trips, highlighted the social and economic importance of recreational fisheries in the region, discussed cod, summer flounder, scup, and black sea stock status and management measures, and how NOAA Fisheries science programs benefit recreational fisheries.
EXCERPTS FROM THEIR OPENING STATEMENTS:
John Bullard “We estimate that there are about 4 million marine anglers spending about $4.9 billion a year on recreational fishing in the Northeast Region. This is tremendously important economic activity for our nation and its coastal communities. Recreational fishing also provides many of our citizens with enriching experiences by giving them contact with the ocean and the complex web of life it supports. Recognizing these important factors, we strive to sustain healthy recreational fisheries so that they will continue to provide these benefits on a long-term basis.”
Russell Brown “Our science is used to inform management of most of the sport fish species that are targeted by anglers in the Northwest Atlantic. Our Social Sciences Branch has studied recreational anglers and their contribution to the fishing economy and the important social benefits derived from marine fisheries. We are committed to enhancing the science and improving stock assessments by gathering accurate and representative angler data and engaging the recreational fishing community through cooperative research.”
SOME KEY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
Question – Does NOAA Fisheries plan to reopen Federal waters to striped bass fishing?
Answer – There are no current plans to open Federal waters to striped bass fishing. NOAA has considered reopening the EEZ to striped bass fishing several times and encountered strong opposition to doing so, particularly from Mid-Atlantic recreational fishing groups. While the current stock status of striped bass is healthy, there is concern because recruitment of young fish into the population has been low (with only 1 good year of production in the last 5). The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is the lead agency for striped bass management, and persons interested in the EEZ being reopened should work with their state marine fisheries agency and the ASMFC to encourage the development of an ASMFC recommendation to reopen Federal waters.
Question – The wolffish fishery was shut down because we a lack of data for that species; what can we do to get better data to improve understanding what is going on with wolffish?
Answer– We were concerned over a dramatic drop in wolfish abundance in our northeast trawl survey which led to the closure on wolffish. The trawl survey is not the best tool to monitor wolfish because they primarily live in rocky areas, and, therefore, the survey gave us only a relative sense of what was happening with their population. However, the survey showed wolffish dropping out of nearshore areas and having progressively much lower catch rates over time. The Northeast Science Center has recently instituted a long line survey to better sample wolffish in rocky areas to get a better handle on what is going on with that stock.
Question – How can one alter the Marine Mammal Protection Act to give more flexibility when dealing with marine mammals that are problematic in recreational fisheries?
Answer – More science and fact-based information will be need to address this issue. Constituents will have to work with their Federal legislative representatives to make changes to the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Question – How is the growth of marine mammal populations affecting the forage fish species that our gamefish species depend on?
Answer – Marine mammal populations are growing, especially the seal population, and they do consume forage species. The Science Center conducts marine mammal surveys, and has a study to look at seal stomachs to determine the species and size of fish that seals consume. Some ecosystem modeling studies have confirmed that seals eat a good amount of fish, but the overall amounts they take out of a fish stock, in relation to maintaining a healthy fish populations, are not as strong a factor, as some have claimed.
Question – What is NOAA Fisheries doing to increase its capacity to conduct outreach to the recreational fisheries community?
Answer – We are striving to improve in this area; the Northeast Region and Science Center had a January roundtable with recreational fisheries representatives, we are holding this open call to recreational fisheries community, and we are making more efforts through our recreational fisheries coordinator to better engage the recreational fisheries community in order to improving NOAA policies and programs. Also, the Regional Office and Science Center have communication specialists who assist with reaching out to the recreational fisheries community.
Question – How can we get better input from the party/chaterboat fleet? The vessel trip reports (VTRs) are not useful, especially when the vessels fish in different statistical areas on the same trip, and this is often done. Poor data in this area have caused concern over haddock management actions and closed area proposals.
Answer – When party/charter boats fish in multiple statistical areas on the same trip, they should fill out a separated VTR for each of the different areas fished. We are working to improve data collection from the party/charter fleet and would like to improve reporting methodologies, and move toward electronic reporting options that could support finer scale area reporting. Also, there is a specific pilot study being implemented with Rhode Island charterboat captains to electronically report trip and catch information more comprehensively. We need to work closely with the groups involved in collecting data from the party/charter boats, and move to a more improved reporting from the fleet. Also, the haddock stock has been carried along on a strong 2003 year class, which is now diminishing, but, luckily, we have a strong 2010 year class coming along to help support a continued healthy fishery.
Question – What efforts are going into understanding the decline in the forage species?
Answer – We are seeing some changes in the distribution of species and something is going on with changing migration patterns that we do not yet fully understand. Some species such as mackerel, may be moving far offshore beyond the range of our surveys. We will be working to get better information on this to fishermen.
SOME KEY STATEMENTS MADE BY CONSTITUENTS:
The striped bass fishery in the EEZ should be reopened. This would provide much needed economic benefits to or northeast charter boat fleet.
The new fishery management bio-economic model recently developed by the Science Center and used by the New England Council’s Recreational Advisory Panel is an important tool that is helping us manage recreational fisheries.
NOAA Fisheries needs to work more closely with the recreational fisheries community, particularly with the charter and party boats on data collection, and more interactions on the ground with the fishermen and fishing industry groups and associations. The fleet is seeing one thing, and the science is not reflecting or explaining what the fishermen feel is happening. More effort needs to be made in this area so that the fleet will have more confidence in the science and management program that affects them.
The recent opening of the winter flounder fishery that allows a 5,000 lb limit for commercial boats was not a wise conservation move. The recreational fishery is very constrained already, and the increased commercial activity has already affected the availably of that stock to the recreational fishery.
NOAA Fisheries needs to be more diligent about enforcing bycatch. Problems in the past have resulted with summer flounder when the bycatch allowance was too high and the commercial fleet could direct on the species at times when they were only allowed to be taken as bycatch. The 5,000 lb winter flounder trip limit is another example where there may be problems in this area.
The Rhode Island pilot program for electronic reporting for charter boats is a good example of how to work with the fleet to improve data collection. The data will be reported to the state and the Federal service; they are using Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistical Program funds and research-set-aside quota to record data while fishing under special quotas.
For further information on the town hall call contact Paul Perra ([email protected]) or Earl Meredith ([email protected]). NOAA Fisheries appreciated efforts and statements made by the recreational constituents who took the time to participate on the town hall call. We are planning to hold another similar town hall call for the Northeast Region this coming fall.
