History Natural of Sharks, Skates, and Rays
Conservation & Management
MARE 394 Dr. Turner Summer 2008
Fisheries Management
Involves regulating when, where, how, and how much people fish to ensure that people will be able to fish in the future NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (also known as NMFS or NOAA Fisheries Service) is the Federal Government agency responsible for fisheries management in the United States
You Down With EEZ
Law Of the Sea established 200-mile-wide Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) granting coastal nations exclusive rights with respect to natural resources
US EEZ
Waters 3 to 200 miles offshore (or 9 to 200 miles offshore in western Florida and Texas)
US EEZ
International shortages and disputes over fishing rights were solved the establishment of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a 200-mile national fishing zone Actually led to overfishing by U.S. domestic fishing fleets
Western Pacific EEZ
Fisheries Management
Federal fisheries management in the United States is driven primarily by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) - 1976 Set up a democratic form of fisheries management in which stakeholders of fisheries resources held important roles in their overall management
Magnuson-Stevens
Governs the conservation and management of ocean fishing Establishes exclusive U.S. management authority over all fishing within the EEZ Foreign fishing within these areas prohibited unless permitted - only with reciprocity to U.S. fishing vessels Establishes 8 Regional Fishery Management Councils responsible for management plans
Magnuson-Stevens
National Standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Act Conservation and management measures shall: (1) Prevent overfishing while achieving optimum yield (2) Be based upon the best scientific information available (3) Manage individual stocks as a unit throughout their range, to the extent practicable; interrelated stocks shall be managed as a unit or in close coordination (4) Not discriminate between residents of different states; any allocation of privileges must be fair and equitable (5) Where practicable, promote efficiency, except that no such measure shall have economic allocation as its sole purpose
Magnuson-Stevens
(6) Take into account and allow for variations among and contingencies in fisheries, fishery resources, and catches (7) Minimize costs and avoid duplications, where practicable (8) Take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities to provide for the sustained participation of, and minimize adverse impacts to, such communities (consistent with conservation requirements) (9) Minimize bycatch or mortality from bycatch (10) Promote safety of human life at sea
In Hawaii
Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) Decision-making body to develop and recommend specific management measures Fishery management plans (FMP), subject to approval and implementation by NOAA Fisheries
Shark Legislation
Shark Finning Protection Act 2002 - amendment to MSA to prohibit and person: 1) aboard a US vessel from finning a shark 2) possessing shark fins aboard a US vessel w/out the carcass 3) landing fins w/out carcass 4) from a foreign vessel w/in US EEZ from landing, possessing, or shipping fins w/out carcass 5) selling or purchasing shark fins taken in volation
Shark Finning Protection Act
Aims are to: 1) prevent unsustainable levels of shark catch due to demand for shark fins 2) prevent of waste shark meat Led to localized regulations by states or Regional Fishery Councils
Shark Protection in Hawaii
Observer program both swordfish & tuna 100% coverage shallow-setting swordfish 20% coverage deep-setting tuna
Shark Protection in Hawaii
To most fishermen in Hawaii sharks are a nuisance/not desirable as they: 1) wreck gear 2) are not very marketable only mako & thresher (meat or fins) 3) risk of injury 4) risk of overfishing 5) negative stigma 6) tainting of catch in hold - urea
Fishing Techniques
Purse seine Bottom trawl
Gill net
Longline
Bycatches and Discards
Do yourself a favor; don't turn around, Keep America Beautiful Native American
The aim of most fishers is to capture species that have financial or energetic value target species Can become part
Target species are often associated with non-target species (organisms not intended catch of that fishery) of the catch known at incidental catch
All Longlines not Equal
International Regulations
Few countries (Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, United States) have fishery management plans for shark fisheries International cooperation and coordination of existing and development of new shark management plans are needed Wide range of shark distributions require cooperation, assessments, and agreements to understand and manage sharks sustainably
International Regulations
No international management mechanisms effectively addressing the capture of sharks Number of international bodies: International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) Initiated efforts to encourage member countries to collect information about shark catches
International Regulations
International management initiatives: Guided by: Atlantic Tunas Convention Act Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks
International Regulations
Ninth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) adopted a Resolution on the Biological and Trade Status of Sharks, requesting that: (1) The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other international fisheries management organizations establish programs on shark species (2) all nations utilizing and trading specimens of shark species cooperate with FAO and other international fisheries management organizations
International Regulations
FAO Committee on Fisheries: develop Guidelines for a Plan of Action for the improved conservation and management of sharks International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries: encompasses all elasmobranch fisheries (commercial and recreational) - calls on all member nations to implement IPOA through own national plan
Got Sharks?
Shark Catch from Hawaii Longline Data
Year #Caught
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2004 114,656 101,292 100,992 85,838 99,919 87,576 74,917
#Retained 98,119 67,760 57,254 36,496 39,062 29,308 71,857
Fins only Whole sharks %Retained 15,374 32,842 43,109 48,552 60,083 57,286 0 1,163 690 629 790 774 982 3,060 14.4 33.1 43.3 57.5 60.9 66.5 4.1
%Finned 13.4 32.4 42.7 56.6 60.1 65.4 0
Changing Attitudes
Changing Latitudes