NOAA Fisheries recently released its 15th Annual Report to Congress on the Status of our Nation’s Fisheries. The report documents our journey toward rebuilding our stocks to healthy, sustainable levels. It provides a “snap-shot” of where our fisheries stood at the end of 2011. Of the 214 stocks evaluated, 173 were on the West Coast and are managed jointly by NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The dynamic between science and management ensures our fisheries are sustainable.
So what does the report tell us about the status of the 173 stocks here on the West Coast? Only two stocks—Pacific bigeye tuna and Pacific bluefin tuna—are subject to overfishing, meaning that 171 stocks currently are harvested at a sustainable rate. However, five stocks are classified as overfished, which means that the population’s abundance is too low, or below a prescribed threshold. These stocks include canary rockfish, cowcod, Pacific ocean perch, yelloweye rockfish, and Chinook salmon from the California Central Valley. Though these stocks are overfished, rebuilding plans are in place to restore the populations to healthy levels. Two stocks, Queets River coho salmon and petrale sole, identified as overfished in 2010, were removed from the list in 2011 because the populations are rebounding. In fact, Queets River coho salmon, as well as Western Strait of Juan de Fuca coho salmon, widow rockfish, and Klamath River Chinook salmon, are fully rebuilt.
This is good news for the resource and for fishermen. West Coast fisheries, whether for commercial sale or recreation, play a major role in the economy. In 2010, the value of fish stocks commercially landed under Federal fishery management plans (Pacific groundfish, salmon, and coastal pelagic species) was $242 million. In 2010, 704,000 marine recreational anglers each took an average of 2.8 fishing trips off the West Coast—fishing for species such as salmon, black rockfish, albacore tuna, lingcod, and Pacific halibut. Fish processors, restaurants, grocery stores, sellers of fishing tackle, fuel, and ice, and many other businesses are involved in the fishing and seafood supply chain, generating jobs and income. In 2009, West Coast Federal fisheries, along with non-Federal fisheries such as those for shrimp, oysters, and crab, generated approximately $2 billion in income and 60,000 jobs on the West Coast.
A number of factors contribute to the health of our fisheries and to the abundance of particular fish stocks in addition to fisheries management. These factors include human-induced habitat degradation and environmental change, such as climate change, ocean acidification, and land-based pollution. They also include factors such as predation, disease, and natural population cycles. Fisheries management requires a robust understanding of what science tells us about the status of each stock and about the various human and environmental factors that may influence a stock’s health. NOAA Fisheries works with the Pacific Fishery Management Council to balance all of these considerations and ensure that we all benefit from the bounty of this resource.
If you would like to view the full Status of the Stocks 2011 Report to Congress, please visit: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2012/05/docs/status_of_stocks_2011_report.pdf