Public Trust Project Director Alison Fairbrother portrays menhaden as in decline and under threat from commercial interests.
Ms. Fairbrother details how, after a reevaluation of the menhaden stock assessment model by two Maryland fisheries scientists, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) went from declaring the stock as being in good health to recognizing that overfishing had occurred in 32 of the last 54 years. When offering this claim, Ms. Fairbrother omits important details in order to make an exaggerated point. From 1954-2008, of the 32 years during which menhaden was overfished, only two of those instances occurred in the last 15 years for which there is available data (1993-2008) – most recently in 2008. Because menhaden is a relatively short-lived species (10-12 years), the data from recent years is much more relevant in estimating the health of the stock than historical data from the 1950s-1970s.
Determining whether overfishing has occurred since 2008 is a more difficult task. In 2011, the ASMFC adopted a new, more conservative baseline for its definition of overfishing. Using this new reference point, the ASMFC's Menhaden Management Board determined that overfishing occurred in 2011 (no overfishing determinations were made for 2009 and 2010 due to the new reference point). However, this is based on the 2012 assessment model, which was found by the ASMFC's Menhaden Technical Committee to have likely been too pessimistic, underestimating the population size and overestimating fishing mortality. The Technical Committee subsequently determined that the 2012 stock assessment based on that model was not suitable for management advice. Because of these inaccuracies and other problems with the assessment, the exact state of the menhaden population is currently unclear.
In the interview, Ms. Fairbrother alleges that, "the menhaden population had declined 88 percent in 25 years." But this statistic does not provide a full picture of stock health over the history of the fishery. The 88 percent figure only represents a portion of all available data, and charts the decline from a very high population in the early 1980s that followed several years of strong recruitment. However, if the more complete time series (going back to the 1950s) is examined, the menhaden population shows fluctuations between highs, such as those seen in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the current population, which is at levels similar to those seen in the 1960s. These fluctuations are more likely to be the result of favorable environmental conditions than a reduction in fishing activity. In fact, the Chesapeake Bay Office of NOAA states that environmental factors are likely to be the greatest influence on the size of menhaden stock -not fishing mortality.
Ms. Fairbrother offers that the "moral" of this story is the need to, "ensure that our regulatory panels are free from corporate influence and the influence of corporate science." During the course of the interview, Ms. Fairbrother offered no evidence to support her claim that the ASMFC is subject to undue corporate influence, and presented nothing that would call into question the integrity and independence of ASMFC science. The ASMFC takes all viewpoints of a variety of stakeholders into consideration. These include advocacy organizations like Ms. Fairbrother's Public Trust Project, many of which are partially funded by foundations created with corporate dollars. These opinions are joined with the many small and large companies involved with the bait and reduction fishery, as well as the working families (and the unions who represent them) directly and indirectly employed by the fishery. While Ms. Fairbrother seeks to disenfranchise one particular viewpoint, the ASMSC considers, and does not silence legitimate voices of those stakeholders who present their positions to the commission.
Through exaggeration and undocumented statements, Ms. Fairbrother presents selective and misleading facts about the menhaden fishery in her interview. This ultimately misconstrues their current status and misleads the public about the health of the fishery.
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