Fisheries Management
Prior
to 1960, the fishery resources off the northeastern coast of the U.S.
were fished almost exclusively by the U.S. Beginning in the early 1960s
and continuing through the mid-1970s, large foreign trawlers fished
heavily in the waters off New England, first targeting non-traditional
specieis such as hake, herring, and squid then moving to the principal
groundfish species. By 1977 vessels from as many as 13 nations fished
these resources to record levels, moving from one stock to another as
the abundance of fish declined (Anthony 1993).
In response
to public outcry at these developments, Congress approved the Magnuson
Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976. The Magnuson Act
implemented great change in the management of U.S. fisheries: a 200-mile
Fishery Conservation Zone was created within which the United States
assumed complete management jurisdiction in order to preserve stocks
of coastal, migratory, and anadromous (e.g. salmon) fish that were being
depleted by overfishing.
The Magnuson
Act established eight Regional Fishery Management Councils to develop
Fishery Management Plans for waters adjacent to their regions from 3
to 200 miles seaward. Each council consists of voting and non-voting
members, representing diverse interests. It is stipulated that the fishery
management plan for the catch of fish in a given region be based on
national standards and optimum yield, using the best scientific information
available. Individual stocks are to be managed as a unit throughout
their range. Management plans, once completed, are reviewed by the Secretary
of Commerce as well as by the public.
The fish
species taken commercially in the area of Stellwagen Bank are managed
by the New England Fishery Management Council and/or the Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council through a number of fishery management plans.
FMPs of the NEFMC currently in place are the: American Lobster Fishery
Management Plan; Fishery Management Plan for the Northeast Multispecies
Fishery; Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Sea Scallops; and Atlantic
Salmon Fishery Management Plan. The MAFMC have developed fishery management
plans for: Atlantic Macherel, Squid, and Butterfish; Atlantic Surf Clam
and Ocean Quahog; Atlantic Bluefish; and Summer Flounder.
During
the first year, minimum allowable sizes of fish were set for several
species: witch flounder, American plaice, winter flounder, and pollock.
The minimum size for yellowtail flounder was increased, and commercial
recreational sizes for cod, haddock and pollock were established. Also,
the haddock spawning closed area, Area I, was enlarged, and a new closed
area off of southern New England was established to protect yellowtail
flounder spawning.
During
the second year of the plan (1987), minimum sizes for cod, haddock,
and pollock were increased, and Amendment 1 was adopted. This amendment
decreased the size of the silver hake exempted fishery, increased the
size of the large mesh area to include southern yellowtail flounder
fishing grounds, and made existing general mesh size regulations more
strict.
In January
of 1989, Amendment 2 was adopted by the New England Council. This amendment
elimated the possibility of a codend mesh size increase due to compliance
and enforcement difficulties, and also implemented several new measures:
bycatch limits per trip were established, and strict "non-reporting
penalties" were implemented; minimum sizes for yellowtail flounder
and American plaice were increased; a seasonal large mesh area on the
Nantucket shoals for the protection of cod was established; mesh size
regulations were implemented for all mobile nets rather than for only
the codend type net; recreational size minimums were required to be
consistent with commercial minimum sizes; and trawlers were excluded
from closed Area II during closure.
In December
of 1989, Amendment 3 to the Northeast FMP was approved. Amendment 3
established the Flexible Area Action System. This was done to aid the
Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service in quickly enforcing
regulations protecting juvenile, smaller-than-legal, and spawning fish.
It is felt that this system has not been effective.
Amendment
4 to the Plan was implemented in January of 1991. This amendment added
further restrictions to the Exempted Fisheries Program, created a procedure
for making recommendations about northern shrimp fishing gear in order
to reduce bycatch of groundfish, included silver hake, ocean pout and
red hake in the management plan, established management practices for
the whiting fishery at Cultivator Shoals, tightened restrictions once
again concerning the Regulated Mesh Area, and established a 5 and 1/2
inch mesh size for the southern yellowtail flounder fishing area. In
addition to implementing these measures, the Council expressed in Amendment
4 the need to develop strategies for rebuilding the currently depleted
principal groundfish stocks.
The National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued the final rule to implement Amendment
5 to the FMP on March 1, 1994. The amendment imposed a moratorium on
new entrants into the multispecies finfish fishery (with exceptions
granted to certain vessels), and created new monitoring, permitting
and reporting requirements. The minimum mesh size was increased for
the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic area as well as for the Gulf of
Maine/Georges Bank area. The amendment also required that seasonal regulation
of mesh size be instigated in the Stellwagen Bank/Jeffreys Ledge area.
The primary
objectives of Amendment 5 were twofold: 1) to eliminate overfishing
of "groundfish stocks" (which include cod, haddock, and yellowtail
flounder) by reducing the rate at which they are caught by 50% over
the five to seven year period following passage of the amendment, and
2) to reduce the "bycatch", or accidental mortality, of harbor
porpoise as a result of the "sink gillnet" fishing technique.
The Amendment
5 final rule also permanently implemented some measures imposed temporarily
by an earlier emergency rule, passed in January 1994, to protect seriously
depleted haddock stocks. These measures included a 500-lb. possession
limit for haddock, and an expanded "closed area" for the fishery,
among others. Amendment 6 to the FMP, effective June 30, 1994, continued
on a permanent basis three measures originally stipulated in the emergency
rule regarding the haddock fishery.
In December
1994, the NMFS issued an emergency interim rule to implement several
new measures in the multispecies fishery. This rule instituted a simultaneous
closure of three areas (Closed Area I, Closed Area II, and the Nantucket
Lightship Closed Area), prohibited scallop vessels from these areas,
and implemented various measures regarding mesh size including "a
requirement that all mobile gear vessels fishing in the Stellwagen Bank
and Jeffreys Ledge areas, with the exception of mid-water trawl vessels,
use 6-inch (15.24 cm) square mesh codends." Under the emergency
action, 6-inch square mesh codends were stipulated for the Stellwagen
Bank/Jeffreys Ledge juvenile protection area.
New findings
from the Stock Assesment Workshops (SAWs) prompted passage of the emergency
action in December, 1994. Fishing mortality rates of groundfish stocks
have increased, in conjunction with a decrease in stock size and yields,
during the 3-year period of development of Amendment 5 . This assesment
led the NMFS to declare that the management measures imposed by Amendment
5 (as well as the addended items regarding the haddock fishery in Amendment
6) were "inadequate."
Amendment
7 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan has been developed
by the NEFMC and submitted to the Secretary of Commerce continues the
existing groudfish plan with several new provisions. Among these is
an acceleration of the schedule for effort reduction; the 50% reduction
in "days at sea" is to be achieved within a two year period,
rather than over seven years as stipulated in Amendment 5. The three
offshore year-round closure areas (Area I, Area II, and the Nantucket
Lightship area) remain closed, and three new seasonal closure areas
become effective June 1, 1996 (Figure 9). Two of these areas, the Massachusetts
Bay and Midcoast Closure Areas include portions of the Stellwagen Bank
National Marine Sanctuary.
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