May 14, 2013 โ The following is a press release, "Conservation Law Foundation Charges NOAA with Risky Management Decisions that Could Lead to the Collapse of Atlantic Cod," originally published by the Conservation Law Foundation on April 30:
BOSTON April 30, 2013 โ Today, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a press release summarizing its newly issued limits on the amount of Atlantic cod, haddock, and other groundfish that commercial fishing boats around New England are allowed to catch in the new fishing season which begins tomorrow, May 1. The anticipated catch limits on the most endangered stocks, while expected to be greatly reduced from last yearโs quotas, will still allow excessive mortality levels, putting the future of the fishery at risk. Even more troubling, the agency appears be leaving the door open for fishermen to access some areas that have been closed to commercial fishing for years, further increasing the risks of a full collapse of cod populations in the region. With fisheries scientists in agreement that cod are at historically low levels and that the species shows no sign of recovery, CLF issued the following response to NOAAโs release:
โThis decision to continue to allow directed fishing on cod is yet another self-inflicted wound by the managers of Atlantic codfish, who continue to take short-sighted actions that donโt go far enough to rebuild cod stocks, and, as a consequence, may now be putting the entire species at risk of total collapse,โ said Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel at Conservation Law Foundation. โThe most important thing we can do now to restore this iconic species is to protect the last refuges for cod in New England and leave the few remaining codfish in the ocean so they can grow and spawn. NOAA shouldnโt be allowing commercial fishermen access to those crucial protected areas; they should be expanding them and keeping them off limits to commercial fishing.โ
Todayโs action by NOAA seems to open the possibility for the first time that nearly 5,000 square miles of currently protected areas in New England waters will be re-opened to commercial fishing โ a proposal that particularly threatens cod populations. These areas, which include biodiversity hotspots like Cashes Ledge, have been protecting habitat and contributing to the recovery of a number of the healthier fish species for nearly two decades.
โWe need to keep these refuges closed if there is going to be any chance of codfish rebuilding. The responsible way forward is to protect and expand ocean refuges like Cashes Ledge, not bow to industry pressure by opening them up to commercial fishing,โ Shelley said. โWe need to reduce the number of large, adult female cod that are being caught and killed, and increase the number that survive to spawn the next generations of Atlantic cod. Opening up these areas would only continue the decades-long pattern of risky decision-making that has run this fishery and its communities into the ground.โ
Analysis: Following NOAAโs announcement of new rules and regulations for the 2013 fishing year, the Conservation Law Foundationโs Peter Shelley blasted the agency for โriskyโ management and โfurther increasing the risks of a full collapse of cod populations in the region.โ Specifically, CLF opposes new cod quotas, which it considers too high despite steep reductions from the previous year, and Framework 48, a measure that allows access to certain ocean areas that were previously closed to fishing. In the process, CLF greatly overstates the environmental impact of Framework 48, as well as the closuresโ role in habitat protection.
CLF opposes allowing access to these currently-closed areas because โthey have been protecting habitat and contributing to the recovery of a number of the healthier fish species for nearly two decades.โ But Framework 48 does not regard areas that were closed for habitat protection. It deals with areas originally closed to control fishing mortality, an objective made redundant by the introduction of a Total Allowable Catch-based system in the groundfishery in 2010. Areas that have been designated as essential fish habitats and that were closed for the purposes of protecting those habitats remain closed.
CLF is particularly critical of allowing access to parts of Cashes Ledge, a โbiodiversity hotspotโ that CLF claims will be threatened under the new rules. But access to Cashes Ledge will only be allowed in areas that are mortality closures, and not habitat areas. The essential fish habitats in Cashes Ledge are not included in the new regulations.
NOAAโs new regulations also do not open the closed areas to an unlimited amount of fishing. The agency still maintains control over how many boats can enter the closures, as sectors need to first apply for an exemption before entering the areas. In their announcement of the new rules, NOAAโs Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard said the agency is not likely to approve any exemptions that would interfere with habitat or spawning. He is quoted saying that โareas defined as essential to protect fish spawning, feeding and breeding will remain closed and that access to other sensitive areas such as the western Gulf of Maine closure and Cashes Ledge probably wonโt be viable.โ
Bullard added: โif we do grant access to any portion of these closed areas, we want to do it in a way that is both responsible and sustainable, so spawning fish, vulnerable groundfish stocks, habitat, and protected species are not put at risk.โ This makes access to the areas a limited, case-by-case issue, and not something that will โrun this fishery and its communities into the ground,โ as CLF alleges.