Seafood Watch Seafood Report Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) Lingcod, courtesy Fisheries and Oceans Canada West Coast Region Final Report November 29, 2004 Updated June 1, 2007 Irene Tetreault Independent Consultant MBA_SeafoodWatch_LingcodReport_06012007.doc June 1, 2007 About Seafood Watch® and the Seafood Reports Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch® program evaluates the ecological sustainability of wild-caught and farmed seafood commonly found in the United States marketplace. Seafood Watch® defines sustainable seafood as originating from sources, whether wild-caught or farmed, which can maintain or increase production in the long-term without jeopardizing the structure or function of affected ecosystems. Seafood Watch® makes its science-based recommendations available to the public in the form of regional pocket guides that can be downloaded from the Internet (seafoodwatch.org) or obtained from the Seafood Watch® program by emailing [email protected]. The program’s goals are to raise awareness of important ocean conservation issues and empower seafood consumers and businesses to make choices for healthy oceans. Each sustainability recommendation on the regional pocket guides is supported by a Seafood Report. Each report synthesizes and analyzes the most current ecological, fisheries and ecosystem science on a species, then evaluates this information against the program’s conservation ethic to arrive at a recommendation of “Best Choices”, “Good Alternatives” or “Avoid”. The detailed evaluation methodology is available upon request. In producing the Seafood Reports, Seafood Watch® seeks out research published in academic, peer-reviewed journals whenever possible. Other sources of information include government technical publications, fishery management plans and supporting documents, and other scientific reviews of ecological sustainability. Seafood Watch® Fisheries Research Analysts also communicate regularly with ecologists, fisheries and aquaculture scientists, and members of industry and conservation organizations when evaluating fisheries and aquaculture practices. Capture fisheries and aquaculture practices are highly dynamic; as the scientific information on each species changes, Seafood Watch’s sustainability recommendations and the underlying Seafood Reports will be updated to reflect these changes. Parties interested in capture fisheries, aquaculture practices and the sustainability of ocean ecosystems are welcome to use Seafood Reports in any way they find useful. For more information about Seafood Watch® and Seafood Reports, please contact the Seafood Watch® program at Monterey Bay Aquarium by calling (831) 647-6873 or emailing [email protected]. Disclaimer Seafood Watch® strives to have all Seafood Reports reviewed for accuracy and completeness by external scientists with expertise in ecology, fisheries science and 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. Seafood Watch® and Seafood Reports are made possible through a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. 2 MBA_SeafoodWatch_LingcodReport_06012007.doc June 1, 2007 Executive Summary Lingcod is a commercially and recreationally important groundfish inhabiting the west coast of North America, with its center of abundance in British Columbia. Adult lingcod are found on rocky bottom substrate from the intertidal zone to water more than 300 meters (m) in depth on the continental shelf. Fall and winter closures protect spawning aggregations of lingcod and males as they guard nests. The three major management regimes for lingcod are the U.S. West Coast, Canada, and Alaska, with nearly 60% of the lingcod on the U.S. market caught by Canada. Historically, landings had been relatively low until the 1940s with the emergence of bottom trawl gear. Subsequent harvest rose dramatically and then began declining in the 1980s. The U.S. West Coast stocks fell to < 10% of virgin spawning biomass in 1997 but are now beginning to increase. Because lingcod are fast-growing and mature early, they are moderately resilient to fishing pressure. The wild stocks in the U.S. West Coast have experienced long-term declines and a recent stabilization trend. The Alaskan stocks are not as well known, but appear to be rebounding due to timely management action after an initial decline. The Canadian stocks are even less well known, but appear stable after long-term decline, although the stocks within the Strait of Georgia appear to be in poor condition with no indication of rebuilding. Overall, caution is warranted because stocks appear to be stable at low levels. Bycatch and ecosystem/habitat effects of the lingcod fisheries within the three management regimes depend in large part on the extent of trawling allowed for the directed commercial harvest. Bottom trawling indiscriminately collects multiple species and causes great damage to bottom habitat, particularly when targeting lingcod in rocky bottom habitat, which has low resilience to disturbance. Half of the U.S. West Coast harvest employs bottom trawl gear and the remainder is caught with hook and line methods. Trawling accounts for 75% of the Canadian fishery, but the Alaskan fishery is dominated by hook and line gear. Management in the U.S. West Coast responded to fishery declines only after stock biomass fell below 10% of virgin biomass. Recently, U.S. commercial fishery management has performed well. The Canadian management performance is less known and the stocks appear to be poorly understood. Alaskan management responded to widespread declines in 2000, and the stock now appears more stable. Based on the five criteria outlined below, lingcod for all three regions are ranked Good Alternative. The conservation concern regarding inherent vulnerability to fishing pressure is moderate throughout lingcod’s range. Stock status is ranked moderate for all regions, but for different reasons. The status of the U.S. West Coast stock is considered “moderate/rebuilding” due to long-term declines and short-term increases. The Canadian stock has experienced long- term declines in some areas, and is described as “moderate” to “unknown” by Canada. The majority of the Canadian fishery is relatively unknown, and is rated here as “moderate/unknown.” The Alaskan stock has experienced long-term declines and appears to be experiencing a short-term increase, but there is more uncertainty in the stock status in Alaska than there is for the U.S. West Coast, thus stock status is rated “moderate/unknown.” Bycatch and habitat effects are ranked according to the degree that trawling is used in the lingcod fisheries. Hook and line methods exhibit low conservation concern for both bycatch and habitat effects. Trawling practices create moderate concern regarding bycatch and high concern regarding habitat effects. With regard to management practices, each of the three management 3 MBA_SeafoodWatch_LingcodReport_06012007.doc June 1, 2007 regions is considered “moderately effective.” Each region responded after substantial stock declines with appropriate regulations (although the effectiveness of the Canadian regime is still relatively unknown). It is notable for lingcod stocks that recreational harvest is greater than commercial harvest, and the recent rebound may be undermined by continued increases in recreational catches. Table of Sustainability Ranks Conservation Concern Sustainability Criteria Low Moderate High Critical Inherently Vulnerability √ Status of Stocks √ Nature of Bycatch √ Hook & Line √ Trawl Habitat Effects √ Hook & Line √ Trawl Management Effectiveness √ About the Overall Seafood Recommendation: • A seafood product is ranked “Avoid” if two or more criteria are of High Conservation Concern (red) OR if one or more criteria are of Critical Conservation Concern (black) in the table above. • A seafood product is ranked “Good Alternative” if the five criteria “average” to yellow (Moderate Conservation Concern) OR if the “Status of Stocks” and “Management Effectiveness” criteria are both of Moderate Conservation Concern. • A seafood product is ranked “Best Choice” if three or more criteria are of Low Conservation Concern (green) and the remaining criteria are not of High or Critical Conservation Concern. Overall Seafood Recommendations: U.S. West Coast Lingcod: Best Choice Good Alternative Avoid Canada Lingcod: Best Choice Good Alternative Avoid Alaska Lingcod: Best Choice Good Alternative Avoid 4 MBA_SeafoodWatch_LingcodReport_06012007.doc June 1, 2007 Introduction Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) is a marine finfish inhabiting the west coast of North America, with its center of abundance in British Columbia. It is the largest member of the family Hexagrammidae (greenlings), which includes 11 species (Nelson 1994). Lingcod vary in color from gray-brown to green and bluish, with darker spotting and mottling on upper parts. It is considered common in its range, from west of the Shumagin Islands in the Gulf of Alaska southeastward to Pt. San Carlos, Baja California in Mexico (Miller and Lea 1976). The preferred habitat for lingcod varies depending on age and gender of the fish. Larvae are pelagic both nearshore and offshore. When 8-10 cm long (3 months), juveniles begin to settle in sand, gravel and eelgrass in bays, estuaries and shallow soft bottoms, then at ages one to two years, move to rocky bottom areas. Adults are