The summer flounder chronicles II: new science, new controversy, 2001–2010

Abstract

The summer flounder, or fluke, Paralichthys dentatus, supports the most important commercial and recreational flatfish fisheries of the US Atlantic coast. The stock and fishery range from Massachusetts to North Carolina. The assessment and management of the summer flounder fishery has been very contentious since implementation of the joint Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission/Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Fishery Management Plan (FMP) in 1989, when the poor status of the summer flounder stock was evident to scientists, managers, and fishermen. Management efforts to control fishing mortality in the face of increasing stock abundance and competing demand for fish from both the commercial and recreational sectors continue to evoke the question of “How much fish is enough?” to provide for long-term sustainability. In spite of the numerous controversies, however, by 2010 the fishing mortality on summer flounder had declined to its lowest level in at least 30 years, and summer flounder stock biomass was the highest since the stock assessments began in the 1960s. From a scientific perspective, future assessments need to: (a) better account for the uncertainty resulting from “internal model” retrospective error, (b) better integrate environmental, ecological, and other non-traditional calibration indices into the modeling framework, and (c) better discern summer flounder stock-recruitment dynamics by considering covariates such as environmental factors and predator/prey abundance. Initiatives are underway to acquire improved fishery and biological data to allow the assessments to better reflect the true “state of nature.”

Glossary of acronyms and technical terms

APA:

(Adminstrative Procedures Act)—The US federal law that governs the way in which administrative agencies of the government propose and establish regulations; became law in 1946

ASAP:

(Age Structured Assessment Program)—An age-structured model that uses forward computations to estimate population sizes given observed fishery catches and survey indices of abundance. ASAP is the model used in the 2010 summer flounder assessment to evaluate stock status

ASMFC:

(Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission)—The Commission was formed by the 15 Atlantic coast states in 1942 as a deliberative body to coordinate the conservation and management of the states shared near-shore fishery resources—marine, shell, and anadromous—for sustainable use. Member states are Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Headquarters are in Arlington, VA

B40%:

The long-term average biomass that would be achieved if fishing at a constant fishing mortality rate equal to F40%. B40% is the current proxy for BMSY (expressed in terms of Spawning Stock Biomass as SSBMSY40%) for summer flounder

BMSY:

The long-term average biomass that would be achieved if fishing at a constant fishing mortality rate equal to FMSY, i.e., the Btarget

Btarget:

A biomass biological reference point used to guide management objectives for achieving a desirable outcome (e.g., BMSY)

Bthreshold:

A biomass biological reference point used to guide management objectives for achieving a desirable outcome (e.g., one-half BMSY). Under current management, if biomass falls below the biomass threshold the stock is considered to be overfished

EEZ:

(Exclusive Economic Zone)—The ocean zone in which the USfederal government has administrative rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, typically stretching from the seaward edge of each US state’s territorial sea (3–12 miles) out to 200 nautical miles from its coast

F40%:

The fishing mortality rate at which the spawning stock biomass would be reduced to 40% of the theoretical maximum over the long-term. F40% is sometimes used as a proxy for FMSY (i.e., the Fthreshold) if FMSY cannot be reliably estimated. F40% is the current proxy for FMSY for summer flounder

Fmax:

The fishing mortality rate that produces the maximum yield per recruit. Fmax is sometimes used as a proxy for FMSY if FMSY cannot be reliably estimated

FMSY:

The fishing mortality rate that produces the maximum sustainable yield. Under current management, the fishing mortality rate threshold (Fthreshold) above which the stock is experiencing overfishing

FMP:

(Fishery Management Plan)—The program of management regulations implemented cooperatively for summer flounder by the ASMFC, MAFMC, and USDOC

Frebuild:

A fishing mortality rate that results in stock rebuilding to a desired biomass target

Ftarget:

A biological reference point used to guide management objectives for achieving a desirable outcome (e.g., some percentage of FMSY)

Fthreshold:

The fishing mortality rate above which the stock is experiencing overfishing. Defined as FMSY or its proxy in current management plans

IGFA:

(International Game Fish Association)—The recreational fishing industry group that keeps track of sport fishing records for the largest fish caught on rod-and–reel in accordance with their rules. Headquarters are in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

MAFMC:

(Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council)—The Council is responsible for the management of fisheries in federal waters which occur predominantly off the mid-Atlantic coast. States with voting representation on the Council include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. (North Carolina is represented on both the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils.) Headquarters are in Dover, DE

MRFSS:

(Marine Recreational Fishery Statistical Survey)—A standard method of data collection and statistical estimation initiated by the NMFS in 1981 to produce catch, effort, and participation estimates for marine recreational fisheries

MSA:

(Magnuson–Stevens Act)—The Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is the primary law governing marine fisheries management in United States federal waters. The Act was first enacted in 1976 and amended in 1996 and 2006. The Magnuson–Stevens Act aided in the development of the domestic commercial fishing industry by phasing out foreign commercial fishing. To manage the fisheries and promote conservation, the Act created eight regional fishery management councils, including those for New England and the Mid-Atlantic. The 1996 amendments focused rebuilding overfished fisheries, protecting essential fish habitat, and reducing bycatch. The 2006 amendments mandate the use of annual catch limits and accountability measures to end overfishing

MSY:

(Maximum Sustainable Yield)—The largest average long-term catch that can be taken from a fish stock. Corresponds to the catch at FMSY or its proxy

NCFA:

(North Carolina Fisheries Association)—a commercial fishing industry group

NEFMC:

(New England Fishery Management Council)—The Council is responsible for management of fisheries in federal waters which occur predominantly off the New England coast. States with voting representation on the Council include Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Headquarters are in Newburyport, MA

NEFSC:

(Northeast Fisheries Science Center), a scientific facility of the NMFS, with the primary laboratory located in Woods Hole, MA

NEPA:

(The National Environmental Policy Act)—The federal law that requires federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions

NMFS:

(National Marine Fisheries Service)—headquarters are in Silver Spring, MD

NOAA:

(National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration)—headquarters are in Silver Spring, MD

NRC:

(National Research Council)—The Council functions under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and is part of a private, nonprofit institution established in 1916 that provides science, technology and health policy advice to the US federal government. The NRC conducted a peer-review of the summer flounder data collection programs and assessment science in 1999, with results published in 2000

NRDC:

(National Resources Defense Council)—The Council is an environmental action group currently with 1.3 million members and employees, including more than 350 lawyers, scientists and other professionals

Recruitment, Recruits:

The number of young fish that survive from birth to a specific age or grow to a specific size. The specific age or size at which recruitment is measured may correspond to when the young fish become vulnerable to capture in a fishery or when the number of fish in a cohort can be reliably estimated by a stock assessment; also referred to as a “year-class.” For summer flounder, these are fish in their first year of life, classified as “age 0.” Age 0 summer flounder recruits (e.g., the 1988 year-class) first appear in fishery and survey catches in the fall of the year (1988) following the spawning season in which they were born (the previous fall of 1987 to the previous spring of 1988)

Retrospective pattern:

The systematic over- or under-estimation of population parameters such as fishing mortality, stock numbers, or stock biomass, usually most evident in the most recent years of a stock assessment model such as VPA, ASAP, or SS2

SAW:

(Stock Assessment Workshop)—The Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) is a formal scientific peer-review process for evaluating and presenting stock assessment results for fish stocks in the offshore US waters of the northwest Atlantic to managers and the public, conducted under the auspices of the regional management councils (the ASMFC, MAFMC, and NEFMC) and the NEFSC

SCAA:

(Statistical Catch At Age)—The generic term referring to the class of age-structured models that use forward computations to estimate population sizes given observed fishery catches and survey indices of abundance

SDWG:

(Southern Demersal Working Group)—The group of state and federal fishery scientists that prepares summer flounder stock assessments for peer review by the SAW, SSC, and other review panels

SS2:

(Stock Synthesis 2)—Version 2 of the Stock Synthesis model, an age-structured model that uses forward computations to estimate population sizes given observed fishery catches and survey indices of abundance. SS2 was one of the models considered in the development of the 2008 SAW 47 assessment of summer flounder assessment

SSB:

(Spawning Stock Biomass)—The total weight of all sexually mature fish in a stock

SSBMSY:

The long-term average Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) biomass that would be achieved if fishing at a constant fishing mortality rate equal to FMSY or its proxy

SSC:

(Scientific and Statistical Committee)—The Advisory Panels to the MAFMC and NEFMC which provide peer review of scientific work and advice on appropriate catch levels and other fishery regulations

SSFFF:

(Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund)—a recreational fishing industry group

TAL:

(Total Allowable Landings)—the regulated annual weight removed from the stock as landed fish

TSB:

(Total Stock Biomass)—The total weight of all fish in a stock

USDC:

United States District Court

USDOC:

(United States Department of Commerce)—The parent agency of the NOAA and the NMFS—headquarters are in Washington, DC

VPA:

(Virtual Population Analysis)—An age-structured model that uses backward computations to estimate population sizes given observed fishery catches and survey indices of abundance. VPA was one of the models considered in the development of the 2008 SAW 47 assessment of summer flounder assessment