More

The MSA requires annual catch limits (ACLs) that prevent overfishing for all federally-managed fish stocks. Commercial and recreational fishers harvest fish from the same population. Recreational fishing can have a significant impact on abundance from catch and discards. Therefore, exempting recreational fisheries from the catch limit requirement carries a risk of degrading fisheries. AFS encourages the full exploration and pilot testing of alternative approaches to managing recreational fishing. Direct measure of exploitation rates through methods such as mark/recapture studies could be used to effectively estimate fishing mortality rather than using landings data to estimate biomass. If effective, alternatives approaches such as these can likely be implemented without the need to exempt recreational fisheries from ACLs. A single definition of “Optimal Yield” based on catch in biomass promotes maximum harvest of pounds of fish, which is well-suited for commercial fisheries, but doesn’t always meet the needs of recreational anglers. Concerns over profit or total weight drive commercial fishers while the opportunity to catch fish with the chance that some will likely be large motivates recreational anglers. Councils should have the flexibility to define “Optimal Yield” based on the competing needs of stakeholders in different areas of the country to better balance the needs of individual fisheries.