Atlantic fishery faces hard times 



Last year, fishermen from Maine to 

 Florida landed over 382,000 metric 

 tons of Atlantic menhaden. These 

 catches, combined with those from the 

 Gulf, make menhaden one of the coun- 

 try's largest fisheries. But the statistics 

 don't tell the whole story. While the 

 menhaden fishery is one of the most 

 productive in the nation, it's also one 

 of the most troubled. 



Consider the evidence. In 1956, 

 712,000 metric tons of Atlantic 

 menhaden were landed by purse seine. 

 In 1969, the fishery bottomed out at 

 161,000 metric tons. While the catch 

 increased in 1972 to 363,000 metric 

 tons, it decreased again in 1973 and 

 1974. Since then, landings have 

 gradually increased, but have never 

 reached the "peak" set in 1956. 



Large fluctuations like these have 

 fisheries biologists worried — could the 

 bottom drop out again? Probably not, 

 they say. But, they add that we need 

 to have a management plan for Atlan- 

 tic menhaden. 



Up until the mid 60s, the catches 

 were composed of older, larger fish. 

 Then the larger fish suddenly disap- 

 peared. Maybe environmental condi- 

 tions were bad. Maybe overfishing 

 drove the numbers down. 



In 1982, the Atlantic States Marine 

 Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) rec- 

 ommended some regulatory actions in- 

 tended to protect the younger fish so 

 they could contribute to the catch in 

 later years. 



The proposed regulations were: 



1. Regulating the mesh size of the 

 purse seine, with different mesh sizes 

 for different parts of the coast. 



2. Closing a one-mile corridor off 

 the beaches from Cape Henry, Virginia 

 to Cape Fear in North Carolina. 



3. Reducing the fishing season by 

 varying amounts along the coast. Un- 

 der the proposal, menhaden fishing in 

 North Carolina would be prohibited 

 after mid-December. 



Implementation of the proposals is 

 voluntary. The states have jurisdiction 

 in waters out to three miles — the area 

 in which most menhaden are caught. 

 The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries 

 decided the proposals for regulating 

 the mesh size and for closing a corridor 

 needed more study. 



Influenced by the findings of a study 

 by Sea Grant researcher Vito Blomo, 

 the Division of Marine Fisheries 

 decided not to implement the recom- 

 mended shortened season in North 

 Carolina. (Blomo has begun a second 

 Sea Grant study on the impacts of a 

 closed corridor.) So far, New York and 

 New Jersey are the only states to im- 

 plement the dates for a shortened 

 season in their area. 



Bob Mahood, Director of the Divi- 

 sion of Marine Fisheries and a member 

 of the Menhaden Management Board 

 of the ASMFC, says there was a trade- 

 off involved in that recommendation. 

 "Biologically, the Division of Marine 

 Fisheries felt that proposal was valid. 



"There have been a lot 

 of years when there 

 wasn't any fishing 

 until the fifteenth of 

 December." 



—Billy Tickle 



But the socio-economic impacts may 

 outweigh the biological." 



Blomo's study confirmed that trade- 

 off. He found that it was more than a 

 problem of managing fish. He studied 

 the socio-economic impacts of a short- 

 ened menhaden season and found that 

 the people who make their livings in 

 the industry could suffer. (Blomo's 

 findings are published in Sea Grant 

 Working Paper 83-4.) 



Blomo estimates that, during the 

 first five years of the shortened season, 

 North Carolina companies could face a 

 20 percent loss. (Biologists estimate it 

 will take five years for the menhaden 

 population to adjust to the new fishing 

 pressures.) And, even if those com- 

 panies were able to survive that initial 

 period, the permanent loss would 

 likely be five to six percent. 



Blomo says that shutting a plant 

 down, even for a short time, would be 

 too costly. He estimates that about 

 half of a company's operating costs are 

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