Harvest Capacity Reduction
Pacific Marine Conservation Council (PMCC) advocates
for ecosystem-based management that fosters sustainable fishing communities.
The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy was clear in stating, “U.S. ocean
and coastal resources should be managed to reflect the relationships
among all ecosystem components, including humans and non-human species
and the environments in which they live.” We agree.
As PMCC considers important and controversial issues, we think in terms of benefiting the marine environment and the people and livelihoods connected to the sea. In this spirit, we offer the following position statement regarding harvest capacity reduction.
PMCC believes it is critical to reduce groundfish fleet harvest capacity, fleet-wide, to more closely balance fleet capacity with the total allowable catch (TAC). This is important both biologically and economically. There are more commercially licensed vessels than needed to harvest available fish stocks.
Because a goal of the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) has been to provide a year round fishery, trip limits have be severely constrained within the current fleet structure. Ironically, the restricted trip limits actually increase the percentage of discards and non-target mortalities, placing this way of managing squarely in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act National Standard Nine which requires reducing the level of discards.
There exist two ways to reduce harvest capacity:
- Reduce or further regulate the gear a vessel may fish.
- Reduce the number of vessels in the fishery.
As programs to reduce harvest capacity are designed, PMCC believes
that the following principles must be considered:
- Capacity reduction is necessary in all fleets.
- Federal funds should be fully or partially used in capacity reduction programs in which vessels and permits are removed.
- Capacity reduction should not adversely impact other fisheries or fleets.
- Capacity reduction efforts should not generate excess or additional bycatch/discards.
- Capacity reduction efforts should have clear goals that can be evaluated.
