Past, Present & Future 1 2 Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries Proceedings of a Conference on Fisheries Management in the United States Held in Washington, D.C., USA November 13-15, 2003 David Witherell, Editor Past, Present & Future 3 The conference was sponsored by the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils and NOAA Fisheries. New England Mid-Atlantic South Atlantic Caribbean Gulf of Mexico Pacific Western Pacific Witherell, D., editor. 2004. Managing our nation’s fisheries: past, present and future. Proceedings of a conference on fisheries management in the United States held in Washington, D.C., November 2003. Printed in the United States of America. Cover: Shrimp trawlers at Port Isabel, Texas. Digital manipulation of a photo by William B. Folsom, NOAA Fisheries. Publication layout and design by Laura Lucas Design North Pacific 4 Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries Table of Contents Preface 5 Section I. Opening Remarks and Keynote Speeches Chris Oliver, NPFMC Executive Director 8 Dr. Bill Hogarth, Assistant Administrator of Fisheries 10 Senator Ted Stevens, U.S. Senator from Alaska 11 Sam Bodman, Deputy Secretary of Commerce 14 Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, NOAA Administrator 17 Admiral James Watkins, Chairman, U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy 23 Admiral Thomas H. Collins, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard 29 Section II. Regional Council Presentations 1. New England 34 2. Mid-Atlantic 41 3. South Atlantic 50 4. Caribbean 69 5. Gulf of Mexico 73 6. Pacific 86 7. Western Pacific 106 8. North Pacific 129 Section III. Panel Presentations 1. Fisheries Governance 152 2. Rights-Based Management Programs 158 3. Protecting Community Interests 164 4. Protecting Fish Habitat 170 5. Protected Species Considerations 176 6. Ecosystem Planning 184 7. Directions in Marine Research 190 8. Policy Perspectives on Bycatch 196 9. Technology, Data, and Information in Bycatch Management 202 10. Future Directions in Fisheries Policy 208 Section IV. Poster Abstracts 213 Past, Present & Future 5 6 Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries Preface It is imperative that the marine fisheries of the United States be wisely managed. Our marine resources are an important food source for consumers in the U.S. and abroad. Commercial and recreational fisheries for these resources are a source of employment for hundreds of thousands of people working as fishermen, processors, fishing guides, gear suppliers, and a variety of other support industries. Fisheries are an important part of the U.S. economy, and at a more local level, are critical to the economies of numerous coastal communities. Yet the harvesting of these resources can impact marine ecosystems, and managers need to ensure that future generations will be able to have the same benefits and opportunities we enjoy today. As stewards of these marine resources, we seek to under- stand, evaluate, and improve our nation’s fishery management programs. In early 2002 the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils, and the leadership within NOAA Fisheries (NMFS), decided that the time had come for a national conference to be held in Washington, D.C., with the purpose of providing a forum to assess the status of our marine fisheries management programs, at a national and regional level. In addition to recognizing the successes of our management program, the conference would provide an opportunity to explore potential improvements to national fishery management policy, particularly given that the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) is soon due to be reauthorized by Congress. This conference would be the first-ever fisheries management conference co-sponsored by the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils and NOAA Fisheries, partners in the management of our nation’s fisheries. (Scenes from the conference, left to right) Omni-Shoreham Hotel. NOAA Fisheries booth. The conference, “Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries — Past, Present, and Future,” was held Admiral Collins and Vice Admiral November 13-15, 2003, at the Omni-Shoreham Hotel and Conference Center in Washing- Lautenbacher with the Western Pacific ton, D.C. The conference was open to the public, and over 700 people registered and at- delegation. tended, including fishermen and other fishing industry participants, fisheries managers, Conference attendees chat between sessions. scientists, academics, environmental organizations, Congressional staffs, media, U.S. Ocean Vice Admiral Lautenbacher and Laural Commissioners, Pew Oceans Commissioners, native/community leaders, Regional Council Bryant display the new NOAA members and staff, federal and state fisheries agencies, and other interested members of Fisheries poster created by Ray Troll and Terry Pyles. the public. Past, Present & Future 7 The conference organizers set out to achieve multiple objectives: ◗ Educate the public, policy makers, and media on the fishery management process; ◗ Highlight successful management by region and current management and research initiatives; ◗ Help bridge the gap between perception and reality regarding fisheries management; ◗ Provide a forum for information exchange; and ◗ Solicit a wide range of perspectives on future management and marine research directions. The conference agenda was designed to meet these objectives through four different ap- proaches: keynote addresses by high level policy makers, presentations describing the management programs in each of the eight regions, discussions by expert panelists on pressing management issues, and poster presentations. Keynote speakers included U.S. Sena- tor Ted Stevens from Alaska, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Sam Bodman, Under Secre- tary Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy Admiral James Watkins, and Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thomas H. Collins. Presentations by each of the Regional Fishery Management Councils provided an overview of the current fishery management programs across the country. Ten panels dis- cussed contemporary issues in fishery management, and shared ideas on how to address each issue in the coming years. A poster session, that included 58 posters, provided an additional venue for sharing information. Like many meetings, attendees also share information through informal discussions over coffee and at organized evening events. The conference reception and banquet provided a great opportunity for all attendees to further discuss issues and exchange perspectives, while enjoying a superb meal prepared by the hotel chefs and listening to the evening’s keynote speaker, Admiral Thomas Collins. An evening reception hosted by the Marine Conservation Alliance was also well attended, and attendees enjoyed a bounty of Alaska seafood including king crab, scallops, cod, sablefish, pollock, and salmon. The success of this conference was due to the dedication of a number of individuals. Chris Oliver, Executive Director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, took the lead in organizing the conference, with the assistance of a Conference Organizing Committee consisting of Council and NOAA Fisheries representatives (David Benton, David Witherell, Kitty Simonds, Chris Moore, Marla Trollan, Gregg Waugh, Jack Dunnigan, Jim Balsiger, and Sue Salveson), and with the input of the other Council Executive Directors. Profes- sional conference organizers Jeanne McKnight and Lisa Brandli handled many of the logis- tical details and worked with the hotel staff to ensure a successful conference and banquet. They also worked with Council and NOAA Fisheries public relations staff (Marla Trollan, Susan Buchanan, Laural Bryant, Gordon Helm, Pat Fiorelli, Kim Iverson, Jennifer Gilden, (Photos, top to bottom) Stephanie Madsen. Tom Hill. Robert Shipp. Rebecca Lent and Manny Cruz. Roger Rufe. Ed Rasmuson. Paul Howard. Jack Dunnigan. Margaret Spring. Clarence Pautzke. 8 Managing Our Nation’s Fisheries Wende Goo, and Sheela McLean) to prepare conference written materials, as well as the conference website www.managingfisheries.org. Many other people, too numerous to name individually, also assisted with the organization of the conference and preparation of writ- ten materials. Last but not least, the conference itself would not have been successful without the excellent contributions of the keynote speakers, regional presenters, panel moderators, panel participants, and poster authors. These contributors are individually identified within their respective sections of the proceedings. These proceedings were prepared based on presentations and discussions from the confer- ence. The keynote papers were transcribed from the speeches. The regional papers were provided by staff from each Council office, and were edited to achieve some consistency among the types of information presented. The panel summaries are a synopsis of each issue, as drawn from the panel presentations and the answers to questions from the audi- ence. The summaries were drafted by the rapporteur and/or moderator of each panel, and were peer reviewed and edited for style and content. The poster abstracts are as submitted by the authors, with only minor edits done. Contact information for each poster author is provided for readers interested in obtaining more information. I think you will find this proceedings book to be an informative and useful contribution to the literature on marine fisheries management. I believe this is a very unique publication, compiling for the first time in a single book, a comprehensive review of U.S. marine fisher- ies management, covering each of the eight management