Good news on a number of fronts this past week that should help improve both fish ing and the stock of some species.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted nearly unanimously to begin a public comment period on menhaden protection along the Atlantic Coast.
The so-called Draft Addendum 5 will soon be discussed publicly in hearing rooms up and down the East Coast from Maine to Florida and will present five different management measure options, ranging from status quo to overall harvest reductions by as much as 45 percent from 2010 levels. The vote in Alexandria, Va. to approve the document was passed 15-1, with Virginia the lone opposition and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission abstaining.
On Monday, the Atlantic States Striped Bass Board decided to postpone action on an addendum to the Striped Bass Management Plan. There were only two states opposed to this postponement. No action if any will be taken on this addendum until the November ASMFC Annual Meeting.
If this addendum had been put in place, there would have been public hearings on a draft addendum that could have reduced the harvest of striped bass by up to 40 percent. By delaying the implementation, we will have the information from the turnkey stock assessment that will be completed in September. With this new information, ASMFC will review the stock assessment and determine if any action is warranted.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service along with all but two of the states agreed that decisions should be made on the latest science available. This means a delay until reliable science proves the need for action.
On July 29, a bi-partisan group of legislators introduced The Billfish Conservation Act of 2011 that will help restore billfish populations that are badly depleted by commercial overfishing. By protecting these magnificent fish from overfishing, this legislation will lead to the long-overdue recovery of billfish.
“Several billfish species are in serious decline, according to a recent global assessment by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature,” said Rob Kramer, President of the International Game Fish Association. “This is a wonderful step by Congress to recover billfish and create new jobs in the sportfishing and marine economy.”
