Though intended to gauge the status of the resource, another threat to the health of the fishing industry’s success is the National Marine Fisheries Service stock survey. The stock survey results lead to the estimation of the size of a fish stock and whether it is at, approaching or declining from sustainable levels. Allocations are adjusted accordingly. NMFS estimates are based on the sampling of the same spots in the ocean, semi-annually. They refute all other catch information from industry led research and landings.
That is one reason fishermen, whose livelihood depends upon finding where fish have moved to, have such a contentious stance regarding the stock surveys. The survey does not try to find fish when they move to new areas, and when they don’t catch them, they claim they don’t exist. This defies logic in a dynamic setting such as the ocean floor where fish move unpredictably. Cooperative research has documented tagged fish moving more than 50 miles in months.
Regulation and enforcement are important, but the current levels are overbearing and overly redundant. U.S. Coast Guard, NMFS Office of Law Enforcement, Dockside Monitor Program, At Sea Monitor/Observer Program, State Department of Environmental Affairs all have their own individual rules and laws in effect; many are duplicitous. All groundfish vessels must transmit their GPS position to the NMFS Office of Law Enforcement hourly, 24/7, 365 days a year, even when not fishing. Fishermen must also register 48 hours in advance of a trip with the observer program. When starting your steam in from the fishing grounds, you have to e-mail the Dockside Monitoring company with your ETA so they can check on you when you land (even if you have an onboard, at sea monitor). These rules apply to 120-foot offshore boats with a five man crews that make multi-day trips as well as to small one- or two-man day boats. All captains have had to learn to operate with these new levels of oversight, otherwise they couldn’t go fishing.
Read the complete opinion piece at Wicked Local.