2014 Status of Stocks
Annual Report to Congress on the Status of US Fisheries
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires NOAA to report, on an annual basis, on the status of US fisheries. Earlier this week, this report was released[1]. This year’s report highlights that the number of fish stocks subject to overfishing or overfished hit all-time lows. In 2014, six stocks came off the overfishing list (four were added – Greater amberjack and Gray triggerfish in the Gulf of Mexico and Puerto Rico Scups and Porgies Complex and Puerto Rico Wrasses Complex) and two stocks are no longer listed as overfished (none were added to that list). Additionally, recent assessments show three more stocks have rebuilt (Gag grouper in the Gulf of Mexico, Golden tilefish off the Mid-Atlantic Coast and Butterfish from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras) —bringing the total number of stocks rebuilt since 2000 to 37.
Summary of Changes:
| Status | 2013 (%) | 2014 (%) |
| On the overfishing list | 28 (9%) | 26 (8%) |
| On the overfished list | 40 (17%) | 37 (16%) |
| Total rebuilt since 2000 | 34 | 37 |
A stock that is subject to “overfishing” has a harvest rate higher than the rate that produces Maximum Sustainable Yield[2] (“MSY”). Overfishing is a direct result of fishing activity. It is an interim stage and management measures included in fishery management plans (“FMP”) are designed to guard against a species subject to overfishing becoming overfished. Current management practices (Annual Catch Limits (“ACL”) and Accountability Measures (“AMs”)) reduce the likelihood of a species, identified as subject to overfishing, becoming overfished.
A stock that is “overfished” has a population size that is too low and that jeopardizes the stock’s ability to produce its MSY. A stock can become overfished through fishing activities and also habitat degradation, pollution, climate change and disease. Once a species is deemed overfished, fishery managers must implement rebuilding plans. These rebuilding plans will allow some level of take; but at such level that the stock will increase to a level that can produce MSY. Forty-six stocks and stock complexes currently are under rebuilding plans, including 13 stocks that are no longer overfished and continue to rebuild.
A “rebuilt” stock is one that was previously overfished whose biomass has increased to the target population size that supports its MSY.
NOAA Fisheries tracks 469 managed stocks and stock complexes in 46 fishery management plans (“FMPs”). The main tool used in the management of U.S. fish stock is the stock assessment. This is a scientific analysis of the abundance and composition of a fish stock. These fulfill the Magnuson-Stevens Act requirement of using the best available science once they are peer reviewed by independent scientists. These stock assessment are then measured against reference points which will help inform as to whether a particular stock is subject to overfishing or overfished. Stock assessments are also used by Councils when determining and recommending that stock’s ACL. While ACLs are typically set on an annual basis (with exceptions), stock assessments typically aren’t.
West coast fish stocks currently subject to overfishing or overfished:
Bigeye tuna – subject to overfishing in the Pacific and Western Pacific regions;
Pacific Bluefin tuna – overfished and subject to overfishing in the Pacific and Western Pacific regions;
Striped marlin – overfished and subject to overfishing in the Central Western Pacific region;
Blue king crab – overfished in the Pribilof Islands;
Canary rockfish – overfished in the Pacific region;
Pacific ocean perch – overfished in the Pacific region;
Yelloweye rockfish – overfished in the Pacific region;
Seamount groundfish complex – overfished in the Hancock seamount area of the Western Pacific region.
In 2012, U.S. commercial and recreational fisheries contributed $199 billion to the economy and supported 1.7 million jobs. In an effort to ensure continued access to viable and health fisheries for future generations, revisions to three of the ten National Standards have been proposed and are undergoing the public comment process. The regional Councils are also looking beyond managing fisheries on a stock-by-stock basis and are now considering, developing and implementing ecosystem-based fishery management policies. These represent an integrated approach, incorporating the entire ecosystem, including humans, into resource management decisions, and is guided by adaptive management. Also under development is a Climate Science Strategy[3] which is intended to improve the production and use of climate-related information in fisheries management decisions. Changes in marine environments, whether it be Ocean Acidification and/or growing oxygen-free zones, need to be better understood and considered when making management decision.
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[1] http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/news/2015/status_of_stocks_2014.html
[2] MSY is the largest long-term average catch that can be taken from a stock or stock complex under prevailing environmental and fishery conditions. See 50 CFR §600.310
[3] http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/Assets/ecosystems/climate/documents/draft_NOAA%20Fisheries_Climate_Science%20Strategy_Jan_2015.pdf
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