MFCN Spring 2008

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In this Issue...

Vol. 13, Issue 1

May 2008

Forage FishUpdate

~~~~~~The Marine Fish Conserva-

tion Network (Network) is a

coalition of more than 200

environmental organizations,

commercial and recreational

fishing associations, and

marine science groups that

advocates national policies to

achieve healthy oceans and

productive fisheries. Please

visit:

www.conservefish.org

The Network has been hard at work advocat-

ing for the little fish in our oceans. Known asforage fish, these mostly small and short-lived

species like sardines, squid, anchovies, and

menhaden are crucial species to healthy ocean

ecosystems. Forage fish take up nutrients such

as plankton and make that energy available to

upper level predators like birds, predator fish

such as striped bass and salmon, and marine

mammals. Without this crucial link connecting

the primary productivity of sunlight-generated

energy to higher trophic level animals, we wont

have bigger fish or fishing opportunities.

But an antiquated management system and

increasing pressure on forage fish from industrial

fisheries are threatening the health of forage

fish stocks nationally and globally. The exist-

ing management system in the U.S. pressures

managers to reduce fish populations to forty

percent of their unfished biomass; when they do

so for forage fish management this significantly

reduces the amount of forage available to marine

birds, fish and mammals. A sharp increase in

industrial fishing fishing on forage fish species

is also underway for what are called reduc-

tion fisheries. These fisheries employ massivenets to catch hundreds of millions of pounds of

forage fish and then grind them up for use in

industrial production of cattle, pigs, chickens and

increasingly, for salmon, tuna and other preda-

tor fish. Aquaculture, in particular, is a highly

inefficient use of this valuable natural resource,

requiring between three and ten pounds of forage

fish to produce only one pound of farm-raised

fish.

Since early 2007, the Network has focused its

efforts on reforming national policy and examin-

ing key regional forage fish issues to promote anecosystem-based fishery management that puts

conservative management policies first and fore-

most. We are convinced that in order to ensure

the health of forage fish populations, catch levels

should be based on what is necessary to satisfy

the needs of predation.

At the national level, the Network has targeted

the federal governments revision of National

Standard 1, a set of regulatory guidelines that

federal fishery managers use to set catch levels

for U.S. fish populations. The passage of the

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Reauthorization Act in 2006

required fishery managers to rethink how to set

catch levels to prevent overfishing and ensure

sustainable fish populations. The Network sub-

mitted a detailed proposal to the National MarinFisheries Service-the agency responsible for

writing the revised guidelines-outlining exactly

how the agency could modify its guidelines to

enact conservative management of forage fish

populations. Following that, the Network coor

dinated a scientist sign-on letter to the agency

backing the Networks call for more conservati

management. Ninety-two scientists nationwide

signed on to that letter. Those efforts resulted i

a meeting with fisheries service staff earlier this

year where the Network detailed in-person its

outline for management reform. A revised set oguidelines is expected in May and the Network

will be writing detailed comments and generati

public response to the agency.

At the regional level, the Network has held

four public education workshops on forage

fish. These workshops were designed to edu-

cate Network members and others interested in

ocean health and fisheries management and mo

importantly, to solicit feedback from the broad

range of Network members with respect to re-

gional forage fish advocacy. The results of thos

workshops are very exciting to report.

In the Gulf of Mexico, regional representative

Tom Wheatley held a workshop in November

2007 in New Orleans, bringing together environ

mental groups, fishing groups and marine scien

tists. That meeting focused on Gulf menhaden,

species under pressure due to poor managemen

practices, namely that no allowable catch level

is set, no bycatch minimization measures are in

place, and no analysis of the safe level of catch

to protect ecosystem functions has been coordi-

nated. Since that time, Tom has worked closely

with the (Network member group) Gulf Res-toration Network to create a broad coalition of

environmental groups, fishing groups and marin

scientists in Texas to successfully convince the

Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission to modif

its regulations for fishing on menhaden in Texa

state waters.

On the Pacific, regional representative Julie She

man partnered with the Point Reyes Bird Obser

vatory to hold a very well attended workshop in

Continued on pag

Network News

Letter from the

Executive Director

2

NOAAs Fiscal

Year 2009

3

Pacific Update 4

Gulf of Mexico

Update

4

Mid-Atlantic

Update

5

South Atlantic

Update

5

New Network Staff 6

Initiatives in Shark

Management

6

New Network

Members

7

Calendar 8

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A Letter from the Executive Director

2

MARINE FISH CONSERVATION NETWORK

As many of you know, we are currently celebrating the 15th year

since the founding of the Marine Fish Conservation Network.

Since I am relatively new to the Network, I am just now learning

the full scope of your accomplishments over these years, which

includes some amazing successes. When the Network comes

together on June 3 at our Annual Member Meeting in Washington

DC, I urge each of you to tell me your memories and assessment of

these events. I also want to use this history as a starting point for

considering a fundamental question:

What should the Marine Fish Conservation Networkdo and how should it be structured for the future?

Now is the time to begin a conversation with you on this question

and begin to frame the answers. I want to start at this years An-

nual Meeting and then work towards concrete conclusions at the

semi-annual Advisor meeting and strategic planning session in the

fall. I am eager to hear your ideas for what the Network could and

should become.

Since the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in January

2007 there have been many changes and accomplishments here

at the Network: development of a strategic plan, staff transitions,

funding challenges, and even a new director. Along with these

changes, in the past six months you and the Network staff have ac-

complished a great deal. Please allow me to briefly remind you of

our accomplishments and encourage you to celebrate them:

Promoting Implementation of theMagnuson-Stevens Act.Although draft rules have yet to be published by National Marine

Fisheries Service for guidelines on annual catch limits, environ-mental review and limited access privilege programs, the Network

has been hard at work advocating for implementation of the newly

reauthorized laws provisions to designed to set science-based

catch levels, end overfishing and protect family fishermen from

consolidation, along with existing requirements to restore over-

fished populations, protect habitat and minimize bycatch. Since the

fall of 2007, we have published several reports detailing the need

for the fisheries service to prepare strong rules and have worked

with Network members to submit a series of detailed comments to

help the fisheries service prepare strong rules.

For the fish and fishermen,

Bruce J. Stedman

Promoting Forage Fish Conservation.As a number of the articles in this newsletter attest, we have done

extensive work on forage fish conservation as the first step to-

wards ecosystem based fisheries management: we produced a new

website (www.foragefish.org); conducted four regional workshop

developed a major scientist-sign-on letter and met with NMFS to

encourage including forage fish in new NS1 guidelines.

Regional Advocacy on Fisheries Management.Our four regional representatives produced detailed reports analy

ing regional council management performance in the Mid-Atlanti

South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific regions. In addition

to watch-dogging these councils for implementation of the Mag-

nuson-Stevens Act, the representatives coordinated with regional

Network member groups to advocate for proper implementation o

the Act, kicked off campaigns to secure conservative managemen

of forage fish populations, and continued to strengthen the Netwo

by reaching out to environmental, fishing and science groups.

Working toward Finding More Funds forFishery Data Collection.We began conducting some foundation-setting work which yielde

two major fact sheets used for Hill education on appropriations.

Strengthening the Networks

Organizational Structure.The Network recently acquired five new members, expanded our

Board of Directors to seven, and elected a new Co-Chair (Linda

Paul).

Upgrading Our Infrastructure.Thanks to dedicated grants from Munson, Oak, and Ocean Found

tions, we have installed a new phone system and begun an overha

of our website.

We trust that these efforts meet with your approval. If you have

ideas, concerns, or questions about the work we conduct on your

behalf, please let me know anytime by phone (202-543-5509 x6),

email ([email protected]) or in person when we meet o

June 3.

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NOAAs Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 budget request for NMFS

3

In February, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA), the parent agency of the National

Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), submitted its budget request

for Fiscal Year 2009. Under that proposal, the FY 2009 budgetfor the fisheries service would be about six percent less than the

enacted FY 2008 budget. NOAAs budget request for NMFS

does include increased funding of $31.8 million for activities

related to implementation of the new mandates and requirements

of the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act (MSRA), but

these gains have been purchased largely at the expense of

budget cuts in other fisheries and management programs.

Overall, the budget trend for NMFS over the last seven budget

cycles is flat.

These trends underscore the key point of recent annual reports

of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative (JOCI), which assess

the nations progress toward implementing the recommendations

of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (USCOP 2004) and

the Pew Oceans Commission (POC 2003). The JOCI reports

conclude that chronic under-funding for ocean programs is

hindering significant progress in addressing the crises facing our oceans.1

To address shortfalls in funding for fisheries management, the Network has circulated recommendations for increased investment in

NMFS fisheries program areas related to expanding data collection and observer coverage, expanding stock assessments, reducing

bycatch, protecting habitat, and advancing ecosystem-based initiatives.

The word on Capitol Hill, however, is that Congress is unlikely to act on the FY 2009 budget until after elections in the fall. Meanwhile

the Network will continue to work with interested member groups to advocate greater funding through Congressional appropriations as

well as alternative sources of funding that are not tied to the appropriations process, such as a national trust fund.

1Joint Ocean Commission Initiative (JOCI), 2006-2007. U.S. Ocean Policy Report Card 2006 and 2007. See: www.jointoceancommission.org.

San Francisco in December 2007, bringing together fifty people

representing environmental, fishing and science groups along the

west coast. A day-long set of presentations from scientists covered

the multitude of Pacific coast issues surrounding ecosystem-based

fishery management and forage fish. The workshop provided Julie

with a solid basis for assessing the various options for forage fish

advocacy on the west coast, and she spent much of the winter vet-

ting various proposals with west coast Network members and is

currently preparing a campaign plan.

Building on the successful Forage First campaign by one of our

members-National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC)-the

Network and NCMC in March co-hosted a workshop in Annapolis

that was led by regional representative Brooks Mountcastle. The

workshop featured a keynote from Dick Russell and had presenta-

tions on herring, menhaden and ecosystem-based fishery manage-

ment in the Mid-Atlantic. Representatives from conservation

organizations, recreational fishing organizations, state and federal

governments, an aquarium, and academia, heard how forage fish

are important for the marine environment and how better science

needed to address uncertainties in forage fish dynamics and preda

tor needs. Commercial menhaden fishing to support the fish oil a

agricultural industries is leading to localized depletion of menha-

den along the Atlantic Coast similar to what occurred in the Gulf

of Maine before closures were imposed on mid-water trawling fo

Atlantic Herring during certain months.

Finally, South Atlantic regional representative Sera Harold held a

workshop on April 18th in North Carolina. The workshop feature

a keynote from noted author H. Bruce Franklin whose recent book

The Most Important Fish in the Sea, details the history offishing

menhaden in both the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Here too, man

needed next steps were identified by the participants about legisla

tive initiatives, partnerships and advocacy approaches the Networ

should consider.

Continued from front cover - Forage Fish Update

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Pacific Update

Gulf of Mexico Update

Cap on Gulf Menhaden

Fishing - Victory in TexasA strong coalition offishermen an

conservation groups headed by the

Marine Fish Conservation Network

the Gulf Restoration Network,

and the Recreational Fishing

Alliance recently helped advance

the protection of Gulf menhaden in

Texas state waters. Common from

Florida to Texas, Gulf menhaden

(Brevoortia patronus) are one of th

most significant food sources for

predators such as sharks, pelicans, dolphins, and many sportfi

sh.Unfortunately this crucial link in the food chain is highly exploite

by an industrial fishery that catches on average more than 1 billio

pounds annually to grind and process into fish oil and fish meal.

The Save the Bait coalition in Texas-consisting of environment

and fishing organizations and local businesses-urged the Texas

Parks and Wildlife Department to cap the amount offish caught in

state waters, require observers on the menhaden boats to documen

the species composition and amount of bycatch, and advocate for

regional management. On Thursday, March 27, the Commission

voted to cap the catch and made clear its desire to keep working o

this issue to make further conservation improvements.

Bycatch is a major problem for the menhaden industry. Estimate

to be only 1 percent of the catch, it does not sound too bad; but

1 percent of a 1 billion pound catch is 10 million pounds of dead

sea life annually. The Save the Bait coalition is going to keep

working to get industry funded and government trained observers

on the menhaden boats for the 2009 fishing season. The Network

is also working with its partners in Louisiana and Mississippi to

ensure that enough menhaden are left in their state waters to fulfil

their crucial role in the ecosystem and to reduce the amount of

waste generated by this industry.

Council proposals counterlegal directive to minimizebycatch

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires

fishery managers to minimize

bycatch. Despite this directive, the

Pacific Fishery Management Council

is currently working to initiate

a swordfish fishery that would

instead increase bycatch. Although

the councils stated approach is to

reduce bycatch by guiding a

transition of the existing drift gillnet

fishery to a longline fishery, the council has not proposed retiring

existing gillnet permits in exchange for the longline permits.

Instead, the council is proposing to increase the total fishing effort

and to allow bycatch. The council has rejected calls from fishermen

and conservationists to promote a U.S. West Coast swordfish

fishery that will not increase the bycatch of tunas, marlins, marinemammals, seabirds, and endangered sea turtles by analyzing a

broader range of gear alternatives including harpoon fishing. The

current proposal represents a huge step backwards in council

efforts to minimize bycatch.

In one very unfortunate example, although Pacific leatherback

sea turtle populations remain in critical condition, the council is

poised to continue approval an experimental fishing permit that

allows longlining for swordfish within the leatherback sea turtle

conservation area. The experiment will not yield statistically

significant results, but government scientists project it will cause

harm to endangered leatherback sea turtles.

Council seeks to increase knowledgeof managed species

The council recently gave preliminary approval for newassessments on a few of the 71% of its managed fish stocks whose

population status remains unknown, including the spiny dogfish,

a small shark endangered in other parts of its range, and the

bronzespotted rockfish, a long-lived, slow-reproducing species that

scientists warn may be declining. The council will also develop

assessments for complexes of multiple rockfish species of unknown

population status. The Network applauds the councils proposal

to assess little-studied species to determine their population status,

and encourages additional assessments of unstudied species as soonas feasible.

Proposed limited access privilege program skirts keystandards

At recent meetings the council continues to advance a limited

access privilege program (LAPP) for the groundfish trawl fishery

that does not comply with the Magnuson-Stevens Acts ten year

term limit on privilege permits. The proposed LAPP does not

have clear measures to ensure conservation, reduce bycatch, and

preserve fishing opportunities for new entrants, small vessel owner-

operators, and family fishermen. As required by the reauthorized

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the council is hoping to deliver a proposa

to Congress by January 2009.

Poor environmental analysis, limited options onallocation amendment

A Network review of a recent council proposal to revisit its

allocation in the groundfish fishery indicates that the proposal lacksufficient environmental analysis and provides limited options

for managers or the public to consider. Nor does the proposal

address the legal requirement to minimize bycatch or quickly

restore overfished populations. The Network joined a group of

environmental groups and fishing groups urging the council to

revisit the proposal.

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South Atlantic Update

Mid-Atlantic Update

Council begins usingprecautionary managementafter courts force the issue

Amendment 13C to the Snapper

Grouper Fishery Management

Plan enacted in 2006 addressed

overfishing in snowy grouper,

golden tilefish, black sea bass and

vermilion snapper. Challenged in

the courts by a commercial fishing

association, a federal judge required

the council to write new amendmen

to end overfishing of these species

immediately and set reasonable rebuilding periods. The Networkapplauds the council for taking a positive step forward by

implementing the new legal requirement to set annual catch limits

for these and other species. Notably, the council is poised to set

catch levels below the overfishing threshold, decreasing the chanc

that overfishing will occur. The council still has nine species that

are undergoing overfishing and/or are overfished, so there is a lon

ways to go to get the regions stocks to healthy levels.

Observer data needed for snapper-grouper fishery

The snapper grouper fishery in the south Atlantic is in dire need o

a program to record catches. There are many ways to accomplish

this coverage (e.g. electronic log books, video monitoring, full

retention programs, or traditional observers) but the critical elemeis federal funding for these programs. In many cases the boats in

question are very small and operating at such low profit levels tha

any additional cost to fishers is prohibitive.

Council moving ahead with fishery ecosystem plan

The Network applauds the council moving ahead with its attempt

to institute ecosystem-based management. The Fishery Ecosystem

Plan has established several marine protected areas (MPAs) in

the region and more are being contemplated. While MPAs are

certainly a form of ecosystem-based management, the Fishery

Continued Inaction by Council on Gag Grouper

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council did not take

action at its April 2008 meeting to end overfishing of gag grouper

(Mycteroperca microlepis), a popular recreational angling fish.

In October 2006, the National Marine Fisheries Service notified

the Gulf Council that overfishing was occurring. It has now been

well past the year allowed by Magnuson Stevens Act, as written

in October 2006, to end overfi

shing. After encouraging action onred snapper in 2007, it is discouraging to see the Gulf Council fall

back into its old ways of waiting and hoping for better news and

delaying action that insures sustainable fisheries.

Proposal to define

excessive shares stirs

controversy

Since December 2002, theGovernment Accountability

Office (GAO), the investiga-

tive arm of Congress, has

issued numerous reports on

how to improve individual

fishing quota programs (now known as limited access privilege

programs). In March 2007, NMFS issued a memo telling GAO

that they would respond to the recommendations by April 2009.

One of GAOs key recommendations was to require regional fish-

ery management councils to set a definition of excessive shares

in any existing programs. This idea is reinforced in National

Standard 4 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). It is further

reinforced in recent amendments to the MSA which require manag-

ers to prevent excessive consolidation. Excessive shares have the

potential to artificially manipulate the market or disenfranchise

smaller fishing operations and fishing communities.

The MSA requires that allocation shall be carried out in such

manner that no particular individual, corporation, or other entity

acquires an excessive share of such privileges. Unfortunately,

excessive shares are not defined in the existing surfclam/ocean qua-

hog fishery, nor does the council even know who owns the clams

that are harvested!

How this issue is resolved will have far reaching impacts on otherfisheries. The council is considering such a program for the tilefish

fishery, which has brought formal concern from Representative Jim

Saxton (R-NJ), especially regarding the tilefish industry in Barne-

gat Light, NJ, and other smaller communities. Saxton noted in his

letter to the Assistant Attorney General that improvements to MSA

were supposed to address excessive consolidation, and anti-

competitive activities.

Report highlights poor management

in 2006 and 2007

In March, the Network released its annual report evaluating the

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils performance betwee

June 2006 and August 2007. The report highlights the councils

failure to follow scientific recommendations when setting catch

levels, a requirement of the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization A

of 2006. Of the eleven species over which the council has exclu-

sive management authority, three are either overfished or subject

overfishing.

In August 2006, the council set catch levels for fish species that arimportant to the economy of the Mid-Atlantic: summer flounder,

scup, and black sea bass. In each case, scientists recommended

lower catch levels, but the council disregarded that advice and se-

lected a higher catch level, leaving the council with no other choic

but to support a lower catch level the following year because the

stocks were not recovering sufficiently.

Our report is available at www.conservefish.org.

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New Network Staff

Sera Harold, South Atlantic

Regional Representative

In October of 2007 Sera started as the

South Atlantic Regional Organizer for theNetwork. She is a graduate of Cornell,

and holds a Masters of Environmental

Management from Duke University.

After her Masters degree Sera worked

for NOAA at the Florida Keys National

Marine Sanctuary in the public outreach

department, and in private consulting, coordinating the environ-

mental permitting for government and private enterprise in the

Florida Keys. Sera grew up in the U.S. Virgin Islands and held

positions as a sea turtle researcher for the Nature Conservancy and

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before going into the Peace Corps in

Panama as a Community Environmental Education Volunteer. In

Panama, Sera worked with a local cooperative of sea turtle poach-ers to build community consensus and draft a sea turtle manage-

ment plan. She recently published a sea turtle outreach book that is

in every school in the Wider Caribbean. Based out of Wilmington,

North Carolina, Sera religiously fishes for bluefish with her father

off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Carolina Gou-Leonhardt,

Administrative &

Fundraising Assistant

The Networks new Administrative and

Fundraising Assistant, Carolina is a re-

cent graduate of American University in

Washington D.C., with a degree in Inter-

national Relations and a concentration in

Environmental Policy. Carolina was born

in Venezuela and has spent a majority of

her free time traveling and volunteering internationally. She studied

abroad in New Zealand during her junior year where she experi-

enced the unique ecology and learned about innovative conserva-

tion methods. It was then that her interest in marine conservation

began and was further developed during her internship with the

Oceans Team at Greenpeace. Carolina has also recently taken up

scuba diving and is planning to dive as often as possible. Her future

Hilary Goodwin,Special Projects Intern

The Networks new Special Projects

Intern, Hilary Goodwin, started with usin December. Hilary is from Richmond,

Virginia and graduated in May 2005 fro

the College of William and Mary with a

B.A. in International Relations and Env

ronmental Studies. In her senior year, sh

was selected to participate in the NOAA

Population Dynamics Workshop (held through Virginia Tech in th

Florida Keys) where she studied the models necessary to assess fi

stocks. After college, she worked at an environmental consulting

firm, Geo-Marine, Inc., where she helped marine scientists condu

literature research for Marine Resource Assessments for the U.S.

Navy. After leaving GMI, she participated in the Oceanic Society

Marine Mammal Workshop in Belize. The volunteer work she is

most proud of is when she assisted the Virginia Institute of Marin

Science (VIMS) with their Annual Shark Longline Survey in the

Chesapeake Bay in 2006. She is an advanced NAUI diver who

loves to travel to Central America. Shark conservation is one of h

lifelong passions and she plans on obtaining her masters in Marin

Affairs in the future.

Initiatives for Shark Conservation at theFederal and State Level

Between 1950 and 2000 there was a more than a fourfold increas

(+220%) in the reported catch of sharks worldwide, not including

discards1. Scientists estimate 73 million sharks are killed every

year2. Of the catches reported, only 15% are recorded by spe-

cies; this low level of species identification is a major obstacle to

assessment of trends and status relative to overfishing criteria. As

of 2006, 20% of the 547 species of sharks were threatened with

extinction3. Scientists at Dalhousie University estimate that in the

Northwest Atlantic, all recorded shark species with the exception

makos have decreased by more than 50% in the past 8 to 15 years

Growing concerns about the deteriorating status of sharks have

prompted calls for international action to conserve sharks by rein-

ing in the lucrative trade in sharkfinning, reducing fishing pres-

sure, and implementing effective management regimes. Sharks

have evolved as apex predators and as such they are not adapted t

withstand high levels of predation in the form offishing. Life his-

tory characteristics such as slow growth, late sexual maturity and

low reproductive potential all make sharks extremely vulnerable t

overfishing.

There has been intense fishing pressure on sharks that has sky-

rocketed in the U.S. since the 1970s.5 An increase in demand for

sharkfins, resulting from an increase affluence of the middle class

in China, is believed to explain this exponential increase in shark

plans are to continue her education and obtain a graduate degree i

Marine Affairs. Her intention is to help the Network meet its goal

and learn what she can from this experience.

Ecosystem Plan itself is more like an encyclopedia of the South

Atlantic marine ecosystems. Hopefully the plan is a first step

toward ecosystem-based management of our fisheries. The

council will need to consider ecosystem-based management to deal

with forage fish and trophic interactions, as well as high levels

of bycatch in the snapper grouper fishery. Warsaw grouper, for

example, is under consideration for the endangered species list.

There is no directed fishery allowed for Warsaw grouper, but it is

caught by fishermen who target snowy grouper. When these deepwater groupers are brought to the boat, their death rate is almost

100% and this bycatch is underreported and difficult to account for.

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Welcome New Network Members

Florida Keys Commercial

Fishermens Association (FKCFA)P.O. Box 501404

Marathon, FL 33050

(305) 619-0039

www.fkcfa.org

With 360 federally permitted fishing boats, the Florida Keys are home to the

largest commercial fleet from Texas to North Carolina. The mission of FKCFA

is to organize the Florida Keys fishermen into an effective lobby to protect and

promote the fishing industry while supporting laws that encourage sustain-

ability.

St. Croix Womens Dive AssociationP.O. Box 1628Kingshill, VI 00851

(340) 332-7583

www.scubadivestcroix.com

St. Croix Womens Dive Association gets together weekly to dive around the

Virgin Islands. As women who enjoy the underwater sea life, they are commit-

ted to educating the public, especially children, about marine conservation.

Shark Research InstituteP.O. Box 40

Princeton, NJ 08540

(609) 921-3522

Fax (609) 921-1505

www.sharks.org

SRI conducts high-quality, solution-oriented scientific research needed for ef-

fective conservation of sharks. SRI promotes biodiversity and an understandingof shark behavior, and advocates worldwide protective measures for sharks.

The Society for Ocean Sciences10142 Shelldrake Circle

Damascus, MD 20872

(301) 717-6175

www.societyforoceansciences.org

The primary mission of The Society for Ocean Sciences is to inform the public

of the delicate relationship between humans and the worlds oceans. The

Society aims to instill a deeper understanding of the current issues affecting our

oceans and marine resources.

WIDECAST: Wider CaribbeanSea Turtle Conservation Network

135 Duke Marine Lab Rd

Beaufort, NC 28557

(252) 727-1600

Fax (252) 504-7648

www.widecast.org

WIDECAST is an international scientific network founded in Santo Domingo

(Dominican Republic) in 1981 to ensure the survival of six species of Carib-

bean sea turtle. The network is comprised of Country Coordinators in more

than 40 Caribbean nations and territories.

catch. In 2004, the average price per pound for shark meat was

$0.17 while today a bowl of sharkfin soup can go for over $100.6

Sharks caught incidentally in other fisheries (bycatch) compounds

the pressure on shark populations, with the swordfish and tuna bot-

tom longline industry as the major culprit. An estimated 11 to 13

million sharks are caught as bycatch every year. 7

In July 2007, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

responded to quota overages in 2006 by proposing Amendment 2 tothe Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery

Management Plant (FMP). The Gulf of Mexico went over their

quota for Large Coastal Sharks (LCS) by 300% in the first trimester

last year and by 608% in the second trimester. Due to continued

overfishing, the LCS complex is closed to commercial fishing for

both the first and second trimester of 2008.

The final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for Amendment

2 was published for comment in April 2008 with comments due by

May 19th. The final rule is due in June. Amendment 2 examines

different management alternatives to rebuild the badly depleted

sandbar, dusky, and porbeagle sharks, requiring all sharks landed to

have fins attached at the dock, reducing the number of large coastal

sharks commercial fishermen can possess, and modifying the

species that can be landed by recreational fishermen8. Mandating

that fins be attached will make it easier to identify landings by

species which will in turn result in species specific data which is

sorely needed.

In parallel with the proposed action by NMFS, in October 2007, the

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) published

the Draft Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic

Coastal Sharks in an attempt to make state regulations complemen-

tary to those of the federal government. Protection of nursery areas

is mainly within state jurisdiction, which makes these regulationsespecially important for shark conservation. A final version is ex-

pected sometime in May or June.

Congress is also weighing in with proposed legislation to strength-

en the enforcement of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000.

On April 16th, there was a public hearing regarding H.R. 5741,

The Shark Conservation Act of 2008. It eliminates a loophole by

making all vessels subject to the act, not just fishing vessels. Ap-

proximately 64,695 pounds of sharkfins were seized by the U.S.

Coast Guard from the King Diamond II, a U.S. vessel chartered by

a Hong Kong company. A recent decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit

Court of Appeals to reverse the forfeiture prompted Congresswom-

an Bordallo (D-Guam) to introduce this bill.

The year of 2008 is a promising time for shark conservation. Public

support is needed to push through these new shark regulations in

order to give shark populations a chance of recovering. The U.S. is

a leader in shark management and continued improvement and new

initiatives should encourage other countries to follow suit. For such

highly migratory species, international cooperation is essential.

1TRAFFIC. 2006. Lack, Mary & Glenn Sant. World Shark Catch, Production & Trade 1990-

2003.2Clarke, S.C., M.K. McAllister, E.J. Milner-Gulland, G.P. Kirkwood, C.G.J. Michielsens, D.J.

Agnew, E.K. Pikitch, H. Nakano, M.S. Shivji. 2006. Global estimates of shark catches using

trade records from commercial markets. Ecology Letters 9(10):1115-1126.3http://www.iucn.org

4Baum, J.K., R.A. Myers, D.G. Kehler, B. Worm, S.J. Harley, P.A. Doherty. 2003. Collapse an

conservation of shark populations in the Northwest Atlantic. Science 299:389-392.5http://www.fao.org6WPRFMC (Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council). 2007. Shark Depredation and Unwante

Bycatch in Pelagic Longline Fisheries: Industry Practices and Attitudes, and Shark Avoidance Strategies.

Honolulu, HI.7Science Daily. April 22, 2008. Can Certain Metals Repel Sharks from Fishing Gear?8NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service). 2007. Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Shark Manag

ment Measures. Federal Register 72(144): 41392-41412.

8/14/2019 MFCN Spring 2008

8/8

MarineFishConservationNetwork

00PennsylvaniaAvenue,SE,Suite210

Washington,DC20003

ww.conservefish.org

hone:202-543-5509

ax:202-543-5774


...To Achieve Healthy Oceans and Productive Fisheries.

Calendar of Events

May 21-24

58th International Tuna

Conference

Lake Arrowhead, CA

May 22

NMFS Shark ID Workshop

NE Regional Library, 9:30 am-3pm

Wilmington, NC

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/

workshops/

Management Council meeting

Hilton Garden Inn

Kitty Hawk, NC

http://www.mafmc.org

June 2-5

Gulf Council Meeting

Houston, TX

http://www.gmfmc.org

June 3-5

New England Council

Meeting

Portland, ME

http://www.nefmc.org

June 3-5

Capitol Hill Ocean Week

Washington, DC

June 5Marine Fish Conservation Network

Fish Fest

Washington, DC

http://www.conservefish.org

June 8-13

South Atlantic Council Meeting

St.Thomas, USVI

http://www.safmc.net

June 10-12

Mid-Atlantic Council Meeting

Atlantic City, NJ


June 10-12Western Pacific Fishery Management

Council 98th SSC Meeting

Honolulu, HI

http://www.wpcouncil.org

June-11

NOAA Fish Fry

Washington, DC

June 16-20

142nd Council Meeting

Honolulu, HI

June 16-27Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commis-

sion Annual Meeting

Panama

http://www.iattc.org

June 19

NMFS Shark ID Workshop

Rosedale Library, 10 am-3:30 pm

Jefferson, LA

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/

workshops/

July 7-11

11th International Coral Reef Sympo-

sium

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

http://www.nova.edu/ncri/11icrs/

July 28 - August 1

8th International Fish Congress

Portland, OR

http://www.fishbiologycongress8.usgs.

gov/

August 11-22

Western and Central Pacific Fisher-

ies Commission Science Committee

Meeting

Port Moresby, Papua New Guineahttp://www.wcpfc.int

August 12-14

Mid-Atlantic Council Meeting

Philadelphia, PA


August 8-21

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Com

mission Meeting

Alexandria, VA

http://www.asmfc.org

August 25-30

U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting

Kona, Hawaiihttp://www.coralreef.gov/taskforce/

meetings.html

MFCN Spring 2008

Documents

Transcript of MFCN Spring 2008