52 



ASMFC oversight. 



STATUS OF BLDEFISH STOCK 



This Sxibcoinmittee has expressed concern that the bluefish stock 

 is declining, and if that is the case, what the cause of the 

 predation pressure might be. NMFS is in agreement that the 

 bluefish stock is declining. The latest stock assessment 

 finalized in 1993 found that the bluefish stock is overexploited, 

 and at a low level of abundance, with the recent downward trends 

 in recreational and commercial landings reflecting the declining 

 stock biomass. 



The overexploitation of bluefish by fishing in recent years (at 

 least since 1986) certainly is a factor in the continued rate of 

 the decline of bluefish stocks. Other factors such as 

 environmental conditions could also have a role in the decline of 

 bluefish. However, hfMFS has not been able to determine if such 

 factors are playing a significant role in the decline of 

 bluefish. 



NMFS does not believe that there is new predation pressure on the 

 stocks. Some fishermen have suggested that the recent increases 

 in the abundance of striped bass has had an inverse effect on 

 bluefish abundance because of increased striped bass predation on 

 juvenile bluefish. Considering the fact that striped bass stock 

 abundance has undergone a major increase since 1989, and bluefish 

 stocks were already in a steady decline for a number of years 

 before 1989, it is unlikely that increased striped bass abundance 

 has been a major factor in the decline of bluefish. In addition, 

 water temperature and currents can effect the migratory patterns 

 and distributions of fish. NMFS has not investigated these 

 effects in relation to long term bluefish abundance. 



As mentioned earlier, good estimates of population size are 

 available only since the early 1980s. Spawning stock reached a 

 historical high in 1986, and has since been in a steady decline. 

 Commercial landings over the last decade have remained stable, 

 but recreational landings have declined significantly from 143 

 million pounds in 1980 to 23 million pounds in 1993. 



NMFS has recent statistics on the commercial and recreational 

 catch of bluefish, the market value of the catches, and how 

 bluefish are usually caught. 



^ In 1993, U.S. commercial landings of the species were 10.6 

 million pounds, valued at $2,970,000. In 1994, U.S. 

 commercial landings were 9.8 million pounds, valued at 

 $2,937,000. 



■j In 1994, the recreational catch of bluefish was 11,963,000 



