MANAGING THE NATION’S BYCATCH: PRIORITIES, PROGRAMS AND ACTIONS FOR THE NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON, D.C. JUNE 1998 CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments ............................................................v Executive Summary .......................................................... vi National Perspective National Overview ............................................................2 Background ...............................................................2 Purpose of the National Marine Fisheries Service Bycatch Plan .......................3 The Role of National Marine Fisheries Service in Addressing Bycatch .................4 Input from Constituents ......................................................6 Terms and Definitions Used in the Bycatch Plan ..................................7 Common Issues and Needs Among Regions ......................................11 Bycatch as a Component of Stock Assessment ...................................11 Bycatch of Protected and Regulated Species .....................................12 A Conceptual Approach to the Bycatch Problem .................................14 Adequacy of Monitoring Programs ............................................18 National Bycatch Assessment ..................................................20 Evaluation of Information on Discards and Discard Management ....................20 National Bycatch Goal and Objectives ..........................................31 National Goal .............................................................31 National Objectives ........................................................32 National Recommendations ...................................................39 Monitoring and Data Collection Programs ......................................39 Gear Technology and Selectivity Research ......................................40 Effects of Bycatch .........................................................40 Incentive Programs ........................................................41 Conservation and Management Measures .......................................41 Information Exchange and Cooperation ........................................41 Regional Perspectives Northeast Fisheries .......................................................43 Regional Characteristics .................................................43 Regional Bycatch Issues ..................................................44 Regional Bycatch Programs ...............................................47 Regional Recommendations ..............................................51 Atlantic and Gulf Pelagic Highly Migratory Species Fisheries ....................53 Regional Characteristics .................................................53 iii Regional Bycatch Issues ..................................................54 Regional Bycatch Programs ...............................................56 Regional Recommendations ..............................................57 Southeast Fisheries ........................................................59 Regional Characteristics .................................................59 Regional Bycatch Issues ..................................................60 Regional Bycatch Programs ...............................................62 Regional Recommendations ..............................................64 Pacific Pelagic and Insular Fisheries .........................................66 Regional Characteristics .................................................66 Regional Bycatch Issues ..................................................66 Regional Bycatch Programs ...............................................74 Regional Recommendations ..............................................75 West Coast Fisheries ......................................................77 Regional Characteristics .................................................77 Regional Bycatch Issues ..................................................78 Regional Recommendations ..............................................84 Alaska Fisheries ..........................................................87 Regional Characteristics .................................................87 Regional Bycatch Issues ..................................................89 Regional Bycatch Programs ...............................................93 Regional Research Initiatives .............................................100 Regional Recommendations .............................................101 Resource Material References .................................................................105 Glossary ..................................................................113 Appendices Appendix A. Bycatch Matrix .................................................118 Appendix B. Case Studies of the Benefits of Reducing Bycatch .....................154 Appendix C. Response to Comments on First Draft of Managing the Nation’s Bycatch ................................................187 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The bycatch plan was developed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) over an 18-month period from early 1996 to mid-1997. The planning team was made up of fisheries managers and scientists from all of the NMFS administrative regions. The bycatch team was assisted in development of the bycatch plan by a facilitator from the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. Members of the Bycatch Team are: Anneka W. Bane, Office of the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, Silver Spring, Maryland Christofer H. Boggs, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Honolulu, Hawaii Ramon Conser, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Newport, Oregon Elizabeth W. Lauck, Office of Science and Technology, Silver Spring, Maryland James K. McCallum, Southwest Regional Office, Honolulu, Hawaii Rodney R. McInnis, Southwest Regional Office, Long Beach, California Steven A. Murawski, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts James M. Nance, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Galveston, Texas Scott Nichols, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Pascagoula, Mississippi William L. Robinson, Northwest Regional Office, Seattle, Washington Susan J. Salveson, Alaska Regional Office, Juneau, Alaska Gary J. Smith, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Gladstone, Oregon Joseph M. Terry, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, Washington John F. Witzig, Office of Science and Technology, Silver Spring, Maryland Our colleagues throughout NMFS provided numerous reviews, comments, suggestions, and access to the most recent bycatch data throughout the plan’s development. We thank them for their efforts in ensuring that all perspectives were heard and for providing insight into frequently contentious aspects of bycatch in their regions. The economic case studies prepared by Joesph Terry, Steven Edwards, Steven Murawski, Richard Raulerson, Eric Thunberg, and James Waters contributed to the team’s understanding of the economic implications of bycatch; their contribution to this plan is gratefully acknowledged. John Ward provided critical assistance in rewriting a key portion of the plan. Comments and reviews by the fishery management councils, the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, several state fishery management agencies and commissions, fishing industry associations, conservation organizations and individuals concerned about bycatch were invaluable in preparing the final plan and were appreciated. v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Bycatch—defined as fishery discards, retained incidental catch, and unobserved mortalities resulting from a direct encounter with fishing gear—has become a central concern of the commercial and recreational fishing industries, resource managers, scientists, and the public, both nationally and globally. Bycatch concerns stem from the apparent waste that discards represent when so many of the world’s marine resources either are utilized to their full potential or are overexploited. These issues apply to fishery resources as well as to marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds, and other components of marine ecosystems. Congress has responded to these concerns by increasing requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and, most recently, the Sustainable Fisheries Act1 to reduce or eliminate bycatch. The Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act highlighted the need for bycatch management in fishery management plans by requiring that conservation and management measures shall, to the extent practicable, minimize bycatch and to the extent that bycatch cannot be avoided, minimize the mortality of such bycatch. Globally, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, to which the United States is a signatory, also emphasizes bycatch reduction. The national goal of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s bycatch plan activities is to implement conservation and management measures for living marine resources that will minimize, to the extent practicable, bycatch and the mortality of bycatch that cannot be avoided. Inherent in this goal is the need to avoid bycatch, rather than create new ways to utilize bycatch. Responding to these issues and increasing regulatory requirements, in 1992 the U.S. commercial fishing industries initiated a series of workshops to develop strategies to reduce bycatch and to increase the industry’s and the public’s understanding of bycatch issues. Their recommendations,