February 3, 2014 — Black sea bass have made an amazing recovery from low numbers in the 1990s and are not considered overfished. Fishermen are catching just half the amount that scientists and regulators allow, and the size of the black sea bass population along the East Coast is above what scientists and fishery managers say is enough to sustain the maximum yield possible.
So why is the charter boat fleet of Cape Cod so concerned that it will not be able to catch enough black sea bass this year to keep it in business?
The answer is a fisheries Catch-22, a combination of regulatory red tape, inadequate science and cautious regulators.
"We had 20 fish (per day/per person) for years, even when the fishery was in dire straits," Allen said. In December, the state Division of Marine Fisheries notified all charter and recreational fishermen that they could catch only four fish per person per day.
Allen said the Cape's charter fleet clients come mainly from Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. They drive hundreds of miles and stay on the Cape for days at a time, spending hundreds of dollars each day. They will not do that for just four fish a day, Allen argued.
"Four is zero," he said. It costs $700 per day for six fishermen to charter his 35-foot vessel. Allen estimated that Cape boats make up 90 percent of the black sea bass charter fleet and use local ports. The revenues aren't confined to the boats but extend to accommodations, bait, gear, fuel, restaurants and other businesses — to the point that the charter fleet estimates that its operation brings in $4.5 million to the local economy. Also, the high seasons for black sea bass charters are the spring and fall, shoulder seasons when the Cape economy needs a boost.
Division of Marine Fisheries Deputy Director David Pierce faulted a poor stock assessment back in 2004 and what he termed overly cautious regulations from the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which manages black sea bass in federal waters in concert with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in state waters. The overall quota is split between commercial and recreational fishermen. Recreational fishermen did exceed their target annual catch limit in three of the past four years, according to Mid-Atlantic fishery council statistics.
Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times