Highly Migratory Species Report

(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association July 2006 Newsletter)

Bluefin Tuna News

NMFS has announced there will be a limited school bluefin tuna season this summer. The bad news is the time period and number of school bluefin tuna permitted.

The effective dates are:

1-     July 1 - 21, 2006 South zone open allocation is 1 per trip

2-     August 25 - Sept. 14, 2006 North zone  allocation is 1 per trip

You can keep 2 large school bluefin if you can catch them while your school zone slot is open. Three large school bluefin from June 1 to August 31 when the school fishery is closed in your zone. The sizes are school 27” up to 47” and large school 47” up to 73”.

A review of the Atlantic Ocean ICCAT determined that other countries, most of whom are ICCAT members, are continuing their total eradication of the bluefin tuna species in the Eastern Atlantic. Will the European and African nations ever learn that they must abide by their quotas and accept real and honest regulation?

 ICCAT started in 1974. To now all European and African countries have refused to impose any regulation on their bluefin tuna fishing fleets. The European sustainable quota according to ICCAT scientists is 25,000 MT. The official quota they use as their management quota is 32,500 MT.  Recent WWF studies of the issue have documented that reported landed tonnage exceeds 55,000 MT. In addition, farmed bluefin tuna sales adds another 51,000MT plus.  It is clear to everyone that the end of their free-for-all fishing is near. Can countries who have avoided all regulation for 30 years reform?  After so many years with zero regulations it is not politically likely that tough enforceable regulations will appear before they catch bluefin toward extinction.   

Do not forget to take a picture of your next school bluefin tuna. It may be the last school bluefin tuna you will ever catch from New Jersey. US unilateral conservation of an ocean-wide fishery like bluefin tuna is an absolute waste of our tax and license money.  Bluefin tuna management under an international organization like ICCAT that has NO enforcement powers is worthless..  Other nations know they can do anything they want to the bluefin tuna population and incur no penalty that is ever enforced. Meanwhile, NMFS spends tens of millions of dollars managing US bluefin tuna catches with tough domestic regulations, all the time knowing that international regulation of bluefin tuna under ICCAT is a farce.

Commercial Fishery Observer Program

At the recent yearly meeting of Fishery Management council chairmen in Philadelphia the councils asked NMFS to allow them to create their own commercial fishery observer program. The councils wanted to be allowed to issue commercial fee based licenses for commercial fisheries they managed to fund this new program.

The Marine Fish Conservation Network recently reported that currently there is only one observer employed by the observer program south of New England. Is that the kind of fishery management we can expect in the future from NMFS?  Their past history provides little comfort about their future management choices.

Fishery management has solved their tough problems by ignoring the requirements of Magnuson. One new provision in the revised Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management Act is a change that would make it legal “to not provide information to the public about commercial fishery bycatch.” Bycatch in all commercial fisheries is a major problem and such a legal change would solve the commercials’ and councils’ problem with bycatch.

Bunker are Back

Many thanks to JCAA and RFA for their previous work on getting bunker reduction fishing nets eliminated from New Jersey state waters. Currently along NJ beaches are swimming the largest number of bunker pods in twenty years. This is making surf and ocean fishing great for stripers this late in the season. At some time soon the big bluefish that are twenty miles offshore will find these bunkers and make fishing close to the beach real enjoyable.

Recreational Fishery Statistics

Recreational fishery statistics are estimated based on a combination of two items. The first is a dockside interview that counts what fish species and sizes are being brought to the dock. The second part involves a telephone survey which calls postal zip code phone areas within 25 miles of the ocean and asks how many days were fished over the previous 60 days. The two numbers are then multiplied and the results are the recreational fish landings used for fishery management actions.

The “National Research Council” (NRC), a peer review group, recently looked at MRFSS procedures and found far too many errors. As a result a major revision of MRFSS (Marine Recreational Fishery Statistical Survey) procedures are expected in the future. Recreational anglers have determined that MRFSS usually over estimate recreational fish landings, but these high MRFSS data estimates have never been corrected

Let me offer one concrete example of the nonsense that passes for honest MRFSS data. In 2005, MRFSS funded a new survey of for-hire fishing boats only. East Coast Charter and Headboats each had their own state survey.

The survey’s purpose was to identify the total number of boats in the fishery and accurately count the number of passengers who fished from them. MRFSS believed that the total number of trips made by NJ charterboats were not being accurately reported. As a result, MRFSS applied their own “reporting error adjustment factor” to adjust for days fished that were not reported. MRFSS correction factor applied to NJ charterboats was 3.43 or 343%. Put another way, this meant that NJ charterboats were reporting 2 days fished when they were actually fishing 7 days. While it might be correct that a few surveyed boats might have under reported their total days fished, to apply 343% correction to all NJ charterboats customer trips for the full 10 month season is invalid by any standard.  Weather and fish species wanted by customers  prevent most all NJ  charterboats from fishing 7 days a week even in the summer. It is total nonsense to report  that they fish 7 days per week in spring and fall weather conditions.

The impact on charterboat customer numbers is astronomical. The NJ charterboats in July/August period reported 26,190 customers fished from their boats. MRFSS using their NEW correction factor increased the total number of customers who fished to 89,793. This will increase NJ charterboat total fish counted by an absurd amount. 

Such MRFSS statistical nonsense is why anglers who look at MRFSS data find their numbers highly incorrect. This is exactly what NRC found in their study of MRFSS data. Now the same people who estimated incorrect recreational data for the past many years will be permitted to correct their own mistakes! In effect they are telling anglers “Trust us, and we will do a better job.”  In a civilian job they would be long gone.

Enjoy your summer, catch lots of fish before fishery management changes your fishing rules.

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