86 



dollars which sport fishing manufacturers pay into the Sport Fish Restoration Account which 

 funds many of the research and management activities conducted by the states. A drop in anglers 

 pursuing bluefish fi-om approximately 12 million in the mid 1980's to approximately 8 million in 

 the mid 1990's for example, created a potential shift in angler expenditures of nearly a quarter of a 

 billion dollars! This reflects simply the shifts in direct expenditures and does not incorporate 

 any multipliers which would account for shifts in secondary activity generated by these expenses. 



Mr. Chairman, your letter inviting me to testify before this Subcommittee identified three 

 areas to be explored at this hearing: the status of the bluefish stocks; proposed shift of fishery 

 management authority fi'om federal to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 

 (ASMFC); and, what kind of management is needed to rebuild the bluefish stocks. I would like 

 to briefly address those issues in turn. 



The status of the bluefish stocks is problematical. The stock is considered to be over-exploited 

 and at a low level of abundance. Stock biomass has declined from 392,000 metric tons (mt) in 

 1982 to 89,000 mt in 1983, a drop of 77 percent. Present recreational harvest is about 20 percent 

 of what is was in 1987. From the recreational fisherman's view point, bluefish, just a few years 

 ago the mainstay of the Atlantic coast recreational fishery, has become an elusive catch with the 

 average catch going from nearly three pounds per trip nine years ago to slightly more than one 

 pound per trip in 1995. All indices indicate a continuing decline of bluefish stocks, the only 

 remaining question is how low will the stocks go? 



The most recent Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC) findings, completed in 

 1994 revealed Atlantic coast bluefish populations to be substantially "over-exploited and at a 

 low level of abundance." Historically bluefish stocks have fluctuated and there is good reason to 

 believe that the current low levels of stock abundance is due to a combination of over fishing 

 and natural fluctuation. The fishing mortality rate (or "F") for bluefish more than doubled from 

 0.2 in 1982 to 0.45 in 1993. Due to a lack of reliable fishery data the true natural and fishing 

 mortality (combined, equals total mortality) are difiScult if not impossible to accurately define. 



Unfortunately, there has not been an updated comprehensive stock assessment since 1994. 

 Since that last assessment, scientists have recognized some possible deficiencies in the method 

 used in aging bluefish, which may slighdy change the assessment results. But until a new 

 assessment is complete, we must act upon what we know to be the facts. The signs of a stock in 

 peril continue to be echoed in statistic after statistic: 



* The recreational catch dropped to less than 25% of the catch levels 

 experienced in the days of healthier stocks in the eariy 1980's; 



* Commercial harvest levels are at historically low levels; 



* Theaveragesizeofcaught fish has declined drastically; 



* The abundance of spawners has declined by over 74%, 



