Fishing’s Looming Crisis - Can we wait ten years to fix it?

Fishing’s Looming Crisis - Can we wait ten years to fix it?

With the ink still wet on the recent authorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation Act (MSA) and elected officials and spin doctors from certain trade and conservation organizations patting themselves on the back for finally getting “something” passed, fishermen are about to find out that the devil really is in the details - details that will have a crippling effect on our access to many of our favorite fish and which have nothing to do with conservation.

The manner in which MSA now defines “over-fishing” is the first major problem.  Basically, anything that affects the rebuilding of a fish stock or causes a temporary dip in stock size is deemed “over-fishing” even when it has nothing to do with fishing mortality whatsoever. For example, if poor weather conditions hamper spawning success and recruitment falls the following year, the situation is deemed “over-fishing.” The law will be interpreted as fishermen killed too many fish. Even if anglers fished within their target and obeyed season, size and bag limits, MSA will force severe penalties in the form of quota reductions or complete closures.

Here’s another example. Loss of coastal habitat from development and other factors are impacting the ability of summer flounder to rebuild to the extremely high levels of abundance deemed appropriate by government scientists. Even though all the historical data indicates that the target has never existed before, the stocks have been on a solid growth trajectory for the past ten years and the fish are more abundant than anyone can ever remember, the target will not be reached by the arbitrary deadline. According to the MSA, “over fishing” is occurring even though the recreational harvest is at its lowest level since the management plan was first instituted almost 20 years ago, and MSA assessment scientists agree that the current biomass is the highest since stock assessments were started.

Under the new MSA, there is no room for considering and acting on these facts. The only consideration is that even with the highly restrictive quotas, the target will not be achieved within the mandated time frame. So there is only one thing that can be done- basically bring fishing to a halt for a species that is critical to recreational fishermen in the Mid-Atlantic States. It may sound insane, but at the time MSA was being debated, this is what the environmental organizations were pushing for and what some recreational, conservation and industry groups agreed to support. Who can argue with conservation, right? As a result, we are going to be denied access to a growing number of rebuilding or rebuilt fisheries for no reason other than this damaging language inserted into what was already a strong conservation bill in the first place.

The one organization that fought arbitrary deadlines and new “over-fishing” regulations from the start has been the Recreational Fishing Alliance. They did so because they recognized the implications the new regulations would have and took the time to look down the road at the potential impact. The initial inclusion of some of these concepts found their way into the 1996 reauthorization of the MSA, so REF’s staff looked to the’06 reauthorization process as an opportunity to avert a looming crisis and put some level of management flexibility back into the bill for species that were on a sustained growth trajectory or already classified as rebuilt.

Summer flounder is not the only species headed down this road. Red snapper, red grouper, lingcod, black sea bass, Atlantic cod, bodacious and California sheephead are among the popular recreational fisheries on the fast track to regulatory shutdown as stocks rebuild. The larger the stocks become, the more restrictive the regulations will have to be under the current language in the MSA. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but saltwater fishermen in all areas of the country should brace for the loss of access to one fishery after another unless we can force a change! If we cannot, the inadvisable regulations mandated by the MSA will negatively impact recreational fishing and an industry that is already reeling from the triple whammy of an economic slow down, high fuel prices and the loss of waterfront to developers. We’re talking about tackle shops, marinas, tackle manufacturers, fishing boat builders and even this very magazine. We cannot afford to wait another ten years for the next reauthorization cycle to fix this problem. To paraphrase a senior official at the National Marine Fisheries Service- this is a train wreck already upon us. That is why the RFA is calling for Congress to address what could be the final nail in the coffin for recreational fishermen and for many businesses in the recreational fishing industry. Be a part of the effort; join RFA today by visiting www.joinRFA.org. Do it now!