April 28, 2023 — The annual National Marine Fisheries Service “Status of Stocks” report says the agency and its eight regional fishery management council continue to show slow, steady results in rebuilding U.S. fish stocks to sustainable levels.
This latest fisheries scorecard summarizes 2022 results, notching findings for 492 fish stocks and stock complexes managed under federal law.
“In 2022, the number of stocks on the overfishing list decreased slightly, the number of overfished stocks also slightly decreased, and two stocks were rebuilt,” the report states in opening. “We continue to implement management measures that will end overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, and sustain our fisheries for future generations.”
The paper offers an explanation of how NMFS has been calculating the overall state of U.S. fisheries since the overarching federal law – the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act – was authorized by Congress in 1996.
As defined in the report, a stock is considered “overfished” when it is being harvested at a rate faster than what biologists calculate would produce its maximum sustainable yield, or MSY.
An “overfished” stock has a population size that is too low, jeopardizing the stock’s ability to produce its MSY.
A “rebuilt” stock is one that was previously overfished, and now has abundance is now at the managers’ ideal target population size to support maximum sustainable yield.