1999 

 NATIONAL OVERVIEW 



In recent years, there has been growing awareness ot Federal actions to mitigate over- 

 utilized situations. Throughout the early and mid 1990 s, Federal FMP's were amended to 

 specify numerical definitions of overfishing levels according to sound population dynamics 

 principles (see Appendix 4). The fisheries managed by those FMP's need to maintain fish- 

 ing mortality at levels lower than the definition of overfishing, which can be accomplished 

 by a number of" controls such as limiting catches. As the previous section on recent trends 

 indicates, it is still too early to realize the full benefits ol related conservation actions that 

 have been taken in all regions. More recently, concurrent with the writing ot this report, all 

 FMP's are being amended again to revise the overfishing definitions, it necessary, to com- 

 ply with changes made to the MSFCMA when it was reauthorized in October 1996. The 

 amended Act has been interpreted by NMFS as being consistent with the precautionary 

 approach, a tramework lor ensuring that conservation objectives take precedence over short- 

 term economic considerations (see Feature Article 1 ). The Act, lor example, dictates that 

 management needs to maintain the abundance ol stocks at levels capable ol producing 

 LTPY (or MSY). As a result, it is expected that management measures designed to elimi- 

 nate overfishing will be strengthened in the near luture. 



In the case of stocks that are below LTPY, the amended MSFCMA requires plans to 

 rebuild the stocks as quickly as possible. The benefits ol rebuilding are not trivial. A very 

 conservative estimate of the potential gain in yield Irom restoring overutilized stocks (those 

 below LTPY) is 138,700 t, or a 39"o increase of their combined RAY (Table IS). Many of 

 these stocks are extremely valuable, not only commercially and to recreational anglers, but 

 also as important components of the ecosystems that they are a part ol, such that the true 

 benefits to the Nation are dilficult to quantify. 



It is important to recognize that the benefits ol rebuilding depleted stocks cannot be 

 realized immediatelv after the rebuilding plans become operational. The amoiiiit ol time 

 required to rebiuld a stock depends on the species' longevity and growth potential, on 

 environmental infiuences, and on the management controls put in place. For example, a 

 stock of long-lived rockfish that has been overfished lor decades cannot be rebuilt in 10 

 years under average environmental conditions, even under a complete moratorium on fish- 

 ing. Where fisheries are overcapitalized and pertorming poorly in economic terms, as many 

 U.S. fisheries are, short-term economic concerns have tended to receive undue weight rela- 

 tive to the steps needed to cut back harvests-sometimes lor many years-and achieve long- 

 term biological and economic goals. 'Fhe reauthorized MSFCMA effectively limits the weight 



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