Article by News Briefs
The 2019 Weakfish Assessment Update indicates the weakfish stock continues to be depleted and has been since 2003. Under the reference points, the stock is considered depleted when the stock is below a spawning stock biomass (SSB) threshold of 30% (13.6 million pounds). In 2017, SSB was 4.24 million pounds. While the assessment indicates some positive signs in the weakfish stock in the most recent years, with a slight increase in SSB and total abundance, the stock is still well below the SSB threshold. Given the weakfish management program is already highly restrictive with a one fish recreational creel limit, 100 pound commercial trip limit, and 100 pound commercial bycatch limit, the Board took no management action at this time.
The assessment indicates natural mortality (e.g., the rate at which fish die because of natural causes such as predation, disease, and starvation) has been increasing since the early 2000s. Fishing mortality was also high during the mid- to late 2000s. Therefore, even though harvest have been at low levels in recent years, the weakfish population has been experiencing very high levels of total mortality (which includes fishing mortality and natural mortality), preventing the stock from recovering.
To better address the issues impacting the weakfish resource, the Technical Committee recommends the use of total mortality (Z) benchmarks to prevent an increase in fishing pressure when natural mortality is high. The assessment proposes a total mortality target of 1.03 and threshold of 1.43. Total mortality in 2017 was 1.45, which is above both the threshold and target, indicating that total mortality is too high. Fishing mortality has increased in recent years, but was below the threshold in 2017.
Weakfish commercial landings have dramatically declined since the early 1980s, dropping from over 19 million pounds landed in 1982 to roughly 180,560 pounds landed in 2017. The majority of landings occur in North Carolina and Virginia and since the early 1990s the primary gear used has been gillnets. Discarding of weakfish by commercial fishermen is known to occur, especially in the northern trawl fishery, and the discard mortality is assumed to be 100%. Discards peaked in the 1990s but have since declined as the result of management measures and a decline in stock abundance.
Like the commercial fishery, recreational landings and live releases have declined over time. It is assumed that 10% of weakfish released alive die, so that total recreational removals are equal to the number of weakfish landed plus 10% of the weakfish released alive. The assessment update used the new time-series of calibrated estimates of landings and live releases from the Marine Recreational Information Program. These estimates were higher than the values used in the 2016 benchmark assessment, but showed the same overall trend. Total recreational removals peaked in 1987 at 20.4 million pounds and have declined since then to slightly less than 500,000 pounds in 2017. The proportion of fish released alive has increased over time; over the past 10 years, 88% of weakfish were released alive. Most of the recreational catch occurs in the Mid-Atlantic between North Carolina and New Jersey.
The Assessment Update and a stock assessment overview will be available on the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, on the Weakfish page under Stock Assessment Reports. For more information on the stock assessment, please contact Katie Drew, Stock Assessment Team Leader, at [email protected]; and for more information on weakfish management, please contact Dr. Mike Schmidtke, FMP Coordinator, at [email protected].
ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Board Approves Addendum IV
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved Addendum VI to Amendment 6 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass. The Addendum reduces all state commercial quotas by 18% and implements a 1-fish bag limit and a 28” to 35” recreational slot limit for ocean fisheries and a 1 fish bag limit and an 18” minimum size limit for Chesapeake Bay recreational fisheries.
Why is Maryland changing management for striped bass in 2020?
The 2018 benchmark stock assessment for striped bass indicated declines, so the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has determined that conservation measures are needed for the 2020 fishing season. ASMFC is a management entity comprising 15 member states on the East Coast, including Maryland and Delaware.
Through Addendum VI to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Striped Bass, the ASMFC set a target to reduce the coastwide total removals of striped bass by 18% from 2017 levels. Action must be taken by each state for the 2020 fishing season.
What does it mean to reduce total removals – isn’t that the same thing as harvest?
The goal is to reduce the total number of striped bass that are killed by fishing activities. This means reducing the number of fish that are harvested AND the number of fish that die after being caught and returned to the water, known as dead discards. According to ASMFC, the bulk of the coastwide striped bass fishing mortality comes from discards by recreational anglers.
Maryland sees the required management change as an opportunity to reduce discard mortality and to expand protection for large migratory fish as they pass through the Maryland portion of the Bay to the spawning grounds.
DNR also sees this as an opportunity to improve reporting and collect more accurate data so we can better understand the status of our population in the Bay and along the coast. In the future, additional studies may be needed on striped bass spawning, mortality and migration.
How has Maryland started addressing this?
In 2018, DNR raised concerns about the problem of discard mortality with ASMFC. This resulted in the adoption of a decreased minimum size from 20 to 19-inches. In addition, Maryland took unilateral action to require the use of circle hooks when chumming and live lining (the methods by which most recreational anglers catch striped bass.) Circle hooks are an effective conservation measure because they significantly reduce “gut hooking” that leads to discard mortality. The department also launched and is continuing to expand a statewide educational outreach program to assure compliance with these regulations.
How does Maryland plan to reduce total removals?
Maryland explored a number of options to reduce total removals that were modeled, shared with stakeholders, and submitted to ASMFC’s technical committee for review.
One option that has emerged through stakeholder engagement, which DNR is considering, is to proceed with the ASMFC recommended one-fish bag limit, take additional conservation measures and apply those savings to a bonus program (2-fish creel) for the Chesapeake Bay charter fleet. Under this proposed plan, the Chesapeake Bay regulations for the spring trophy fishery would remain the same with a one-fish bag limit and a 35-inch minimum size.
To protect spawning females in the Chesapeake Bay, the trophy season would be delayed to May 1 (rather than beginning on the third Saturday of April) and continue through May 15. Starting on May 16 and continuing through December 15, the recreational fishery would have a one-fish bag limit and an 18-inch minimum size limit.
DNR is exploring the extent of additional conservation measures that would be necessary to support a bonus program for charter boats. Those measures could include partial seasonal closures to reduce dead discards and potential 19-inch minimum size. Participation in this program would be contingent upon mandatory electronic reporting by charter boat captains which will allow the department to get more accurate and real-time data.
To fully consider this plan, DNR will model these options and discuss them with stakeholders. Then a detailed plan will be submitted to ASMFC and must be vetted by their technical committee before implementation.
Did the department already decide on management actions for the spring? When can the public weigh in on any of this?
DNR’s plan will include conservation measures throughout the 2020 season. Due to the regulatory calendar, the department had to submit part of our proposed regulations to the Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review Committee by November 15, 2019 in order for them to be in effect by spring 2020. The public comment period for the spring proposed regulations opened on December 20, 2019 and closes on January 21, 2020. The department will have at least one public hearing in early January to take public comment on the spring proposal and discuss options for summer and fall. A summary of the spring proposals is available on our website at dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries.
ASMFC will give final approval to state’s plans in February. At that point, DNR will submit a separate package of proposed regulatory changes for the summer and winter 2020 season. Once the regulations are submitted, a public comment period on the proposed changes for the summer and winter 2020 season will begin. The department will have at least one public hearing to take public comment on these proposed measures.
ASMFC Recommends New Bluefish Regulations
In mid-December, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) approved new recreational fishing regulations for the 2020 Atlantic bluefish fishery from Florida to Maine. These measures, which include a 3-fish bag limit for private anglers and shore-based fishermen and a 5-fish bag limit for for-hire fishermen, represent a substantial reduction compared to the federal 15-fish bag limit that has been in place since 2000. The Commission’s actions are final and apply to state waters (0-3 miles from shore), while the Council will forward its recommendation for federal waters (3 – 200 miles from shore) to the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Administrator for final approval.
The most recent operational assessment of the Atlantic bluefish stock concluded that the stock is overfished, but not experiencing overfishing. During their joint meeting in October, the Council and Commission adopted a recreational harvest limit (RHL) of 9.48 million pounds for 2020 and 2021, which is an 18% decrease compared to the 2019 RHL. Using the current regulations, the recreational sector is projected to land 13.27 million pounds, which will exceed the RHL by 28.56%. Therefore, the Council and Commission met last week to approve new recreational management measures to constrain harvest to the reduced RHL.
The Council and Commission considered several combinations of bag limits and minimum size limits, including options to set a single set of regulations for all fishing modes or different regulations for shore/private modes and the for-hire mode. Although the Council’s Bluefish Monitoring Committee recommended a coastwide 3-fish bag limit, the majority of comments from the public and Bluefish Advisory Panel (AP) members expressed opposition to this option, noting that it would have severe economic consequences for the for-hire sector, which was only responsible for 3.6% of coastwide landings from 2016 to 2018. Additionally, Advisory Panel members and the public emphasized that these proposed reductions come at a challenging time for for-hire stakeholders as they are also facing new restrictions on striped bass, black sea bass, summer flounder, and scup.
After an extensive discussion and thorough consideration of public comments, the Council recommended and the Commission approved a 3-fish bag limit for private and shore modes and a 5-fish bag limit for the for-hire mode. No restrictions were made to minimum fish size or seasons.
“For many years, bluefish has been one of our most abundant recreational fisheries,” said Council Chairman and ASMFC Board member Mike Luisi. “The Council and Commission are fully committed to the effective conservation and management of this stock, but we also recognize that a sudden change in regulations could have severe socioeconomic consequences for some stakeholders. After evaluating a wide range of options and considering numerous comments from the public, we feel that this approach is the most fair and effective way to achieve the necessary reduction in harvest next year.”
The Council and Commission are continuing to work on development of a rebuilding plan as part of the Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment. Additional information and updates on this action are available at http://www.mafmc.org/actions/bluefish-allocation-amendment.
