NOAA Releases Annual Overfishing Report

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has come out with its 2010 Status Of Stocks [pdf] report. The report is like a State of the Union for fish.

The good news: Out of 253 stocks that could be measured for overfishing (fish that were caught beyond their annual catch quota) 213 fish populations (84%) are not subject to overfishing.
The bad news: 40 fish populations (16%) are victims of overfishing, compared with 38 fish stocks in 2009.
More bad news: In 2009, 46 fish populations were overfished compared to 48 populations in 2010. ("Overfished" is different "overfishing" because overfished population might also be due to other reasons such as environmental changes, disease and habitat degradation.)
The pretty good news: Three Northeast fisheries—Georges Bank haddock, Atlantic pollock and spiny dogfish—have been rebuilt to healthy levels. Twenty one fish populations have been rebuilt since 2000.
The good-to-know news: Stocks are typically reassessed every three to five years, so some of the numbers are carried over from previous years.

The NOAA and the eight regional fishery management councils are required to end overfishing under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act by using annual catch limits and accountability measures. Out of the 528 federally-managed fish stocks, including all stocks that are being fished at too high of a level, 203 stocks have limits and measures in place.

Comments

[thehappymos]

02:08 PM on 07/16/2011

The better news is that, unlike with some other species on the brink of extinction, if left alone, many fish populations can bounce back after 3-5 years. Ted Danson was recently talking about his book, Oceana, and he used a specific example of this off the coast of Africa. When there was a pirating problem off the coast, the commercial fishing boats stopped trawling in that area. Three years later, fish populations were almost back to normal.

[mlaiuppa]

01:44 PM on 07/15/2011

And what jurisdiction do they have over the World and non-U.S. fishing?

What good does it do for U.S. fisherman to refrain from overfishing if some other country continues to decimate a population?

And while this might seem like good news, the U.S. is still responsible for wasteful and harmful fishing practices, bycatch by factory trawlers being number one. That is impacting the salmon population, which are being killed and dumped as bycatch all to harvest pollock. I don't eat fishsticks or imitation crab meat because it is made from pollock. Doing so supports the fishing practices destroying our wild salmon population.

[jlbissette13]

07:34 PM on 07/15/2011

Just to make sure you know, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to limit the number of Chinook Salmon allowed as bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska this past June. There has been a limit in place on the Bering Sea since 2009.

[aldebaranredstar]

09:47 PM on 07/14/2011

where's the list of overfished species, huff post? is it a secret?

[ecotopian]

11:28 PM on 07/14/2011

Well, if you click on the link in the first paragraph, it will take you to a .pdf in which the species are listed.

[Joe Yerkes]

08:11 PM on 07/14/2011

Why don't you actually talk to the fisherman for once instead of relying on NOAA findings and surveys.How many NOAA officials have a background in fishing? Flawed , outdated research used to create regulations that are putting generations of fisherman in the poorhouse are a joke.Ask a NOAA official about the red snapper population and watch em studder without a clear answer.Stories like this make me embarresed to say I love visiting this site.At least cover all aspects of a story like this.

[Genders]

04:30 PM on 07/16/2011

What a joke your comment is, sorry. we have reduced the mass of fish in the Oceanss by 90%. Fact. get over it. Talk to the people who's likelihoods depend on doing that, and what will they say? Duh.

[kareemachan]

02:47 PM on 07/17/2011

joey, you don't know much about NOAA, do you? Having worked for NMFS, I can tell you they don't rely on "flawed, outdated research", but are continually gathering data from, among others, fishermen.

PS - it's "stutter" and "embarrassed"

PPS - Probably they were waiting for you to clarify which red snapper you mean. A red snapper on the East Coast is a totally different genus and species than what we can red snapper on the West Coast.

[kareemachan]

06:15 PM on 07/17/2011

'what we *call* red snapper'

I would never can snapper, only freeze it!

;-)

[firstwizard]

06:45 PM on 07/14/2011

Are we finally getting a clue?

[wzjussayin]

06:14 PM on 07/14/2011

Regulate, protect, support small-boat fishing. There is good news, and you should be more specific about it.
What are the OVERFISHED stocks? Those should be further regulated and protected and in many cases, banned, but be specific.
You guys at Huffpo are running around like chickens with your heads cut off over these issues - and you don't do a halfway decent job of actual reporting.
At the same time, you push farmed fishing without any regard to what farmed fish actually eat.
The good news? There is room for improvement on all fronts, including your reporting, and no, it is not too late, for the planet, the oceans, fish, fishing, or your Rupert Murdoch - style headlines.

[pleasantlyvague]

06:58 PM on 07/14/2011

Not to mention all the vocabulary and grammar mistakes...

[fishin4u]

07:50 PM on 07/14/2011

I was really wanting to see a list myself.
Off the coast here, SE GA,
Red Snapper and Black Sea Bass has been shut down by NOAA and NMF.
Problem is the data was flawed.
Overfishing is not a problem with the fish I mentioned.

FISH............

[kareemachan]

03:01 PM on 07/17/2011

[sigh]

The last part of the first line of the article is blue. This is called a "link". You position your mouse on this and click, and voila! another tab appears that says "Status of Stocks - 2010 Report on the Status of U.S. Fisheries" Wait for it to load, and go to the "Index", where you can find out where in the report the info you seek it. Go to that page and read.

Also, I found info on BSB and RS at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/

Seems pretty cut-and-dried that south Atlantic populations are both overfished already and being overfished - look at the mid-Atlantic numbers in comparison. Especially the snapper, as juveniles are an incidental catch in shrimp trawls. So unless you can show me data which contradicts the NOAA data, I'm believing them - especially since a little circumspection will lead to recovered populations and fishing opportunities.