May 22, 2013 — A DRAFT Biological Opinion released by US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today, found that seven existing commercial fisheries in New Jersey pose "no jeopardy" for Atlantic sturgeon.
This determination, formalised by a Section 7 Consultation required under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), applies to the northeast multispecies, monkfish, spiny dogfish, Atlantic bluefish, northeast skate, squid/mackerel/butterfish, and summer flounder/scup/black sea bass fisheries.
While this determination of no fishing-related jeopardy does not resolve all of the sturgeon conservation issues, it shifts the fisheries from an ESA crisis mode to one that can be addressed by increased collaboration and improved scientific understanding.
Kevin Wark, Captain of a commercial gillnet boat out of Barnegat Light in New Jersey, has been working on cooperative Atlantic sturgeon research for several years with a team of scientists from Delaware State University. After catching, tagging and releasing alive hundreds of large sturgeon in each of the last four years, he said: "from the moment the petition was filed I thought it lacked merit. Furthermore when the Agency offered its initial conclusions I was shocked at the low abundance estimates.
"It is encouraging that additional review has changed those estimates and the Agency has determined a no jeopardy finding for our fisheries. I sincerely hope that the cooperation we've recently enjoyed with the mainstream environmentalists will continue to develop into the future."
Read the full story from The Scottish White Fish Producers' Association