Pallone Voices Concern Over Draconian Black Sea Bass Quotas

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. Tuesday wrote Chairman Robins of the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Chairman Boyles of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission regarding his concerns that the organizations have issued draconian cuts to black sea bass quotas that are based on incomplete data.

“I ask that the Council and Commission consider my concerns and that in the future greater effort is made to reduce the extent to which fishermen are punished for large gaps in information and data necessary for proper fisheries management,” Pallone writes in the letter.

The text of the letter appears below.

September 6, 2011

Richard B. Robins, Jr., Chairman
Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council
300 S. New Street, Room 2115
Dover, DE 19904-6790

Robert H. Boyles, Jr, Chairman
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
1444 Eye Street, NW 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Dear Chairmen Robins and Boyles:

I am writing to express my concern regarding the 2012 Black Sea Bass specifications recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) during your recent joint meeting in Wilmington, Delaware.

The Council and Commission have recommended recreational and commercial quotas that as a result of considerable amounts of uncertainty are lower than necessary and which have real consequences for fishermen and coastal businesses. In fact, the black sea bass stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring based on the most recent stock update. The black sea bass stock is also fully rebuilt and exceeds the stock biomass goal. Even with these thresholds being met fishermen as still being told uncertainty in the process necessitates onerous reductions in quota.

The Science and Statistical Committee (SSC) has expressed a high level of uncertainty in the overfishing level (OFL) and has thus incorporated a high level of scientific uncertainty into its recommendation for allowable biologic catch (ABC). As result the SCC has reduced their recommendation from an OFL of 7.83 million pounds to an ABC of 4.5 million pounds. Clearly, this high level of scientific uncertainty is having a substantial negative impact on the allowable catch that is being recommended and which is only the starting point for reductions made by the Council.

In the recreational sector, additional uncertainty was incorporated to account for management uncertainty thus lowering the quota even further. When discards and other elements were considered a final recreational harvest limit of 1.36 million pounds was produced as the final recommendation. This final recommendation is vastly well below where we started and is due to a lack of information and data.

The process for developing annual quotas has become distressing and is having a real impact on recreational and commercial fishermen, the related industry and local coastal businesses. I ask that the Council and Commission consider my concerns and that in the future greater effort is made to reduce the extent to which fishermen are punished for large gaps in information and data necessary for proper fisheries management.

I understand that a new stock assessment for black sea bass is set to be released in the coming months which will hopefully provide greater certainty. I am also aware that many of the provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act impose requirements upon the Council and Commission which prevent you from taking certain actions. I am working to ensure that there is sufficient flexibility in the law to allow fishermen the access they’ve been promised and deserve.

Thank you for your attention to this letter.

Sincerely,

FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress