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Commercially Important Atlantic Flatfishes US Atlantic

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Commercially Important Atlantic Flatfishes US Atlantic 0 Commercially Important Atlantic Flatfishes American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) Summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) Windowpane flounder (Scophthalmus aquosus) Winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) Witch flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus) Yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea) Atlantic halibut, Illustration © Monterey Bay Aquarium US Atlantic Bottom Trawl & Gillnet December 20, 2012 Michael Hutson, Consulting Researcher Disclaimer Seafood Watch® strives to ensure all our Seafood Reports and the recommendations contained therein are accurate and reflect the most up-to-date evidence available at time of publication. All our reports are peer- reviewed for accuracy and completeness by external scientists with expertise in ecology, fisheries science or aquaculture. Scientific review, however, does not constitute an endorsement of the Seafood Watch program or its recommendations on the part of the reviewing scientists. Seafood Watch is solely responsible for the conclusions reached in this report. We always welcome additional or updated data that can be used for the next revision. Seafood Watch and Seafood Reports are made possible through a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. 1 Final Seafood Recommendation This report covers American plaice, Atlantic halibut, summer flounder, windowpane flounder, winter flounder, witch flounder, and yellowtail flounder caught by the US commercial fleet in the Northwest Atlantic using bottom trawls, as well as winter flounder and yellowtail flounder caught by the US fleet with gillnets in the Gulf of Maine. American plaice, summer flounder, winter flounder caught by bottom trawl, and windowpane flounder from Southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic (approximately 75% of US Atlantic flatfish landings) are Good Alternatives. Avoid Atlantic halibut, witch flounder, yellowtail flounder, winter flounder caught by bottom gillnet, and windowpane flounder from the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank (approximately 25% of US Atlantic flatfish landings). Scoring note – scores range from zero to five where zero indicates very poor performance and five indicates the fishing operations have no significant impact. Species/ Gear/ Impacts Habitat Stock Region on the Impacts on Manage- and Stock other Species ment Ecosystem Overall Rank Lowest scoring species Rank Rank Recommendation Score Rank*, Subscore, Score Score Score Score NE Large- GOOD American Green Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow Mesh Otter ALTERNATIVE Plaice 4.47 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 Trawl 2.68 NE Large- Atlantic Red Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow AVOID Mesh Otter Halibut 2.16 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 2.24 Trawl NE Large- GOOD Summer Green Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow Mesh Otter ALTERNATIVE Flounder 5 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 Trawl 2.76 MA Large- GOOD Summer Green Loggerhead Sea Turtle Green Yellow Mesh Otter ALTERNATIVE Flounder 5 Red, 1,0.9 3.46 2.6 Trawl 2.59 Windowpane NE Large- Red Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow AVOID Flounder - Mesh Otter 1.41 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 2.01 GoM/GB Trawl 2 Windowpane NE Large- GOOD Green Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow Flounder - Mesh Otter ALTERNATIVE 3.83 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 SNE/MAB Trawl 2.58 Windowpane MA Large- GOOD Green Loggerhead Sea Turtle Green Yellow Flounder - Mesh Otter ALTERNATIVE 3.83 Red, 1,0.9 3.46 2.6 SNE/MAB Trawl 2.42 Winter NE Large- GOOD Green Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow Flounder - Mesh Otter ALTERNATIVE 4.47 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 GB Trawl 2.68 Winter NE Large- GOOD Green Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow Flounder - Mesh Otter ALTERNATIVE 3.87 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 GoM Trawl 2.59 Winter NE Large- Green Harbor Porpoise Yellow Yellow AVOID Flounder - Mesh 3.87 Critical, 0,0 3 3.12 0 GoM Gillnet Winter NE Large- GOOD Yellow Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow Flounder - Mesh Otter ALTERNATIVE 2.71 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 SNE/MA Trawl 2.37 Winter MA Large- GOOD Yellow Loggerhead Sea Turtle Green Yellow Flounder - Mesh Otter ALTERNATIVE 2.71 Red, 1,0.9 3.46 2.6 SNE/MA Trawl 2.22 NE Large- Witch Red Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow AVOID Mesh Otter Flounder 1.41 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 2.01 Trawl MA Large- Witch Red Loggerhead Sea Turtle Green Yellow AVOID Mesh Otter Flounder 1.41 Red, 1,0.9 3.46 2.6 1.89 Trawl Yellowtail NE Large- Red Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow AVOID Flounder - Mesh Otter 1.41 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 2.01 CC/GoM Trawl Yellowtail NE Large- Red Harbor Porpoise Yellow Yellow AVOID Flounder - Mesh 1.41 Critical, 0,0 3 3.12 0 CC/GoM Gillnet Yellowtail NE Large- Red Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow AVOID Flounder - Mesh Otter 1.41 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 2.01 GB Trawl 3 Yellowtail NE Large- Red Atlantic Cod - GB Yellow Yellow AVOID Flounder - Mesh Otter 1.41 Red, 1.41,1.27 3 2.74 2.01 SNE/MA Trawl Yellowtail MA Large- Red Loggerhead Sea Turtle Green Yellow AVOID Flounder - Mesh Otter 1.41 Red, 1,0.9 3.46 2.6 1.89 SNE/MA Trawl 4 Table of Contents Final Seafood Recommendation ................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 7 Analysis ....................................................................................................................................................... 15 Criterion 1: Stock for which you want a recommendation ...................................................................................... 15 Criterion 2: Impacts on other retained and bycatch stocks .................................................................................... 35 Criterion 3: Management effectiveness .................................................................................................................. 64 Criterion 4: Impacts on the habitat and ecosystem ................................................................................................ 78 Overall Recommendation ........................................................................................................................... 84 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................... 84 Appendix A: Supplementary Tables and Figures ........................................................................................ 93 Appendix B: Review Schedule ................................................................................................................. 116 About Seafood Watch® ............................................................................................................................. 117 Guiding Principles ..................................................................................................................................... 118 5 Executive Summary This report focuses on the primary flatfish species landed and sold on the US market, both currently and historically (e.g., Atlantic halibut). The scope of this analysis and ensuing recommendation includes American plaice, Atlantic halibut, summer flounder, windowpane flounder, winter flounder, witch flounder, and yellowtail flounder caught by the US commercial fleet in the Northwest Atlantic using bottom trawls, as well as winter flounder and yellowtail flounder caught by the US fleet with gillnets in the Gulf of Maine. American plaice and Atlantic halibut are large, slow-growing fish that are highly sensitive to overfishing. Atlantic halibut, in particular, was extremely depleted over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and has never recovered. Fishing levels have fluctuated around the level projected to allow for rebuilding of the stock by 2056, but there is significant uncertainty in this estimate. American plaice abundance is a low conservation concern, but fishing pressure is at a more sustainable level. Summer flounder is inherently, moderately vulnerable to fishing pressure, and the stock has recently been rebuilt to target levels; abundance and fishing mortality are of very low conservation concern. Windowpane flounder is moderately vulnerable to fishing pressure, but the abundance and fishing mortality of the northern stock are a high conservation concern. The southern stock is a low conservation concern, although there is no information about stock structure (abundance and fishing pressure estimates for both stocks are based on relative biomass indices derived from tow surveys. Winter flounder has low inherent vulnerability to fishing pressure, but stock abundance ranges from high concern in the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic stock to low concern in the Georges Bank stock, and moderate concern in the Gulf of Maine. As fishing pressure is a very low concern in Georges Bank (GB) and the Gulf of Maine (GOM), both the GB and GOM stocks rank as healthy. Fishing pressure is a low concern in Southern New England (SNE) and the Mid-Atlantic (MA). Witch flounder and yellowtail flounder are both moderately vulnerable to fishing pressure, but the abundance and fishing mortality of all stocks is of high conservation concern. The New England and Mid-Atlantic large-mesh otter trawl fisheries are non-selective, and result in high amounts of bycatch, including some bycatch of endangered or threatened species. The New England gillnet fishery results in takes of a number of species of concern, and contributes to mortalities of harbor porpoises in excess of the potential biological removal limit. All three
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