FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2007

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Justin Kenney
Press Officer, The Pew Environment Group
The Pew Charitable Trusts
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Report Offers Solution to Help End Overfishing

Fisheries Experts Develop First Comprehensive Guide for Setting Annual Catch Limits

WASHINGTON - In a report released today, a group of marine science and fishery management experts propose a straightforward and novel approach to setting sustainable catch limits in the face of scientific uncertainty, thereby taking a significant step toward the goal of ending overfishing in the United States. The group, convened by the Lenfest Ocean Program, created the first comprehensive process for setting annual catch limits for all fish populations, including those that lack complete scientific data.

One of the greatest challenges to the successful management of commercial fishing is the lack of complete scientific information. Left in the dark about the health of a particular fishery, managers face the difficult task of setting safe limits that ensure the long-term health of our oceans. As a result, overfishing has become a chronic problem in this country, to detriment of the fishermen and the fish. To address this problem, the group provided guidance for setting catch limits on all commercially caught fish, even those where scientific information about their abundance is limited.

"Our goal with this report is to create a practical way to end overfishing by developing a simple, consistent process for setting annual catch limits that reduces risk to the resource and is more predictable for fishermen," said Andrew Rosenberg, professor at the department of natural resources at the University of New Hampshire and lead author of the report. "Fishery managers never have perfect data nor do management plans always work as intended. As a consequence, management decisions need to be more conservative to prevent damage to the resource and to the fishery. This report guides managers on how to account for uncertainty as well as the inherently different vulnerability of different types of fisheries. The result should be healthy resources, more stable fisheries and more consistent management policy."

Lenfest Ocean Program timed the release of this report so that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) could use the group’s recommendations to develop regulations to implement the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act, the nation’s primary ocean fisheries law, which was signed into law in January. The reauthorized law introduced a new mandate to specify annual catch limits for all fisheries at a level that does not allow overfishing. The law also enacted measures that hold fishery managers accountable for adhering to these limits. Lenfest Ocean Program also intends for the report to guide the regional fishery management councils as they incorporate annual catch limits into their management planning.

"This working group did an excellent job of setting clear, precise guidelines for improving the way we managed fisheries. Although this report is aimed at U.S. fisheries management, the group has come up with a solution to overfishing that can be used around the world. I encourage fishery managers far and wide to start implementing these principles," said Margaret Bowman, director of the Lenfest Ocean Program.

According to the report, the most significant component in preventing overfishing is a precautionary buffer in all fishery management plans between what scientists determine is the limit beyond which overfishing occurs and what fishery managers set as the annual catch limit. This buffer would protect against uncertainties in both the science and in enforcing the catch limit to ensure that overfishing does not occur.

The report recommends that fishery managers take into account the vulnerability of each fish population to fishing, the scientific uncertainty regarding the estimates of the population size or other fisheries information, and the effectiveness of management to control and monitor the population. Fishery managers should adjust the amount of precaution taken when setting catch limits based on these factors. In addition, the group established that the degree of confidence that scientists and managers have in their estimates of these variables should also influence the amount of precaution.

"Congress was clear when it reauthorized the Magnuson-Stevens Act that overfishing must end and that fishery managers will be held accountable if they allow overfishing to occur. This is the first comprehensive report that shows fishery managers how to implement what Congress intended so that they can more effectively manage these valuable ocean resources," said Joshua Reichert, managing director of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Environment Group. The Lenfest Ocean Program was established in 2004 by the Lenfest Foundation and is managed by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

"This report is an important contribution to ending overfishing in the United States. We’ve come up with a fresh approach that, if followed, will significantly improve the way we manage our ocean fisheries. Now the federal government must decide whether this report will remain an academic exercise or will become our nation’s action plan," said report co-author Joseph Powers of the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University and former fisheries stock assessment scientist for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Editor’s note: To view a copy of the report, go to www.lenfestocean.org

About Lenfest Ocean Program:

This research was initiated and supported by the Lenfest Ocean Program. The Program was established in July 2004 by the Lenfest Foundation and is managed by The Pew Charitable Trusts. It brings the best scientific research to bear on identifying the causes, consequences and solutions to problems facing the global marine environment. The Program currently supports research on the ecological, social and economic impacts of current and proposed fishing regimes, and options for sustainable fisheries management.