Bluefish is a highly migratory species harvested along the Atlantic coast by a variety of anglers, angling techniques, and commercial gears. Bluefish are extremely important to the recreational fishing industry; bluefish were the predominant species (by weight) harvested by marine anglers each year from 1979 to 1987. Conversely, bluefish comprise a small percentage of all finfish harvested commercially along the Atlantic coast. In 1987, fishermen caught approximately 124 million pounds of bluefish of which commercial landings accounted for approximately 15 million pounds. Since 1979, commercial landings have averaged about 14 million pounds or 10% of the total catch, commercial and recreational catch combined.
Data collected by NMFS suggest that the bluefish resource has declined in recent years. In fact, preliminary NMFS data indicate the 1988 east coast recreational bluefish catch was approximately 16 million fish, down from a reported 33 million in 1987. In addition, survey data collected since 1974 indicate bluefish year class recruitment was low in 1986 and 1987 and that the 1988 value was the lowest on record.
Although the extensive migrations of bluefish preclude a single entity from effectively managing the fishery, fishing activities in the EEZ or in the waters of a few states could seriously impact the coastwide stock. The complexity and affiliated problems associated with bluefish stock dynamics and the bluefish fisheries, necessitates a cooperative, interjurisdictional approach to management. The primary purpose of this fishery management plan is to address the problems that would occur if the bluefish fishery were to expand significantly or the bluefish resource were to decline. Thus, this plan is intended to avert potential, as well as correct current, management problems. This plan was prepared jointly by the Mid- Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), in cooperation with the New England and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils.
This Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Bluefish Fishery is intended to initiate management of the bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) fishery pursuant to the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, as amended (MFCMA). The management unit is bluefish in US waters in the western Atlantic Ocean.
The major goal of the management plan is to conserve the bluefish resource along the Atlantic coast. Five major objectives have been adopted to achieve this goal:
1. Increase understanding of the stock and of the fishery.
2. Provide the highest availability of bluefish to U.S. fishermen while maintaining, within limits, traditional uses of bluefish (defined as the commercial fishery not exceeding 20% of the total catch).
3. Provide for cooperation among the coastal states, the various regional marine fishery management councils, and federal agencies involved along the coast to enhance the management of bluefish throughout its range.
4. Prevent recruitment overfishing.
5. Reduce the waste in both the commercial and recreational fisheries.
The following management measures have been adopted:
Any person selling a bluefish is identified as a commercial fisherman and must have a commercial fishing permit that allows the sale of bluefish. This commercial definition includes, among others, all hook and line fishermen who sell bluefish, regardless of fishing mode (that is, fishing from shore, man made structures, private boats, party boats, or charter boats). For states without a permit, a federal permit is required to sell bluefish.
The federal costs of implementing an annual permit system for the sale of bluefish shall be charged to permit holders as authorized by section 303(b) (1) of the Magnuson Act. In establishing the annual fee, the NMFS Regional Director will ensure that the fee does not exceed the administrative costs incurred in issuing the permit, as required by section 304(d) of the Magnuson Act. Proper accounting for administrative costs will include labor costs (salary and benefits of permitting officers plus prorated share of secretarial support and supervision at both the NMFS regional and headquarters levels), computer costs for creating and maintaining permit files (prorated capital costs, time share and expendable supplies), cost of forms and mailers (purchase, preparation, printing and reproduction), and postage costs for application forms and permits.
Anglers are restricted to a possession limit of no more than ten bluefish or the equal or more stringent possession limit at the state of landing, if such a limit exists. On vessels with several passengers, the number of bluefish contained on the vessel may not exceed ten (or the adjusted limit) times the number of people aboard the vessel, excluding persons with commercial permits and their catch. Those with commercial permits are required to keep their bluefish separated from the pooled catch and in their possession at all times.
Commercial hook and line fishermen may take more than the possession limit if they have a commercial permit to sell bluefish. Without a permit, fishermen using hook and line gear are restricted to the possession limit.
Based on a recommendation by the Council and ASMFC, the Regional Director, and the Atlantic States in their respective jurisdictions, may modify the possession limit to between 0 and 15 bluefish per angler. This adjustment would be based on the recommendations of the Bluefish FMP Review and Monitoring Committee.
The commercial fishery, on a coastwide basis, is limited to 20% of the total catch (recreational catch plus commercial landings) each year. The decision to implement commercial controls on the bluefish fishery is based on two separate indices (detailed in A and B below) and a two tier approach.
The first tier:
A. A three year moving average of both the commercial landings and total bluefish catch (recreational catch and commercial landings) will be used to derive a time-series projection of the commercial share for the upcoming year. If the projected commercial share is 20% or above, then commercial controls will be implemented at the start of the upcoming year. If this percentage is between 17% and 20%, then policy makers will use the criteria of the second tier to determine if commercial controls will be implemented.
B. The percent of commercial landings in the total bluefish catch will be calculated for each year and compared to the commercial share for the previous year. If the change in the commercial percentage equals or exceeds 50%, then policy makers will use the criteria of the second tier to determine if commercial controls will be implemented.
The second tier:
If the projected commercial share based on the average catch for the previous three years is between 17% and 20% OR the commercial share increased 50% or more from the previous year, then the following steps will be used to determine if controls on the commercial fishery will be implemented for the upcoming year:
1. The most recent, complete year of data will be used to determine what factors led to the increase in commercial share.
2. In-season data will then be investigated to determine if the trends exhibited in the previous year are continuing. These data will include commercial landings by state, month, and gear and recreational catch by wave (2 month periods).
3. If an increasing trend in commercial landings was indicated for the current year then commercial controls will be implemented the following year. The type of control will be determined from examination of the above data.
If the catch in the commercial fishery is projected to equal or exceed the 20% limit during the upcoming year, then a state allocation system will be implemented. This entails the use of landings data from the most recent ten year period for each state to determine the average percentage of coastwide commercial landings. These percentages will be used to determine the amount of the coastwide quota allocated to each state. Quotas apply to landings in each state regardless of where the bluefish are caught.
If no state of landing exists as the result of each coastal state fulfilling the individual quota, then the EEZ will be closed to commercial fishing. In addition, if whole bluefish are processed into fillets at sea, then fillet weight will be converted to whole weight at the state of landing using a 1:2.5 ratio. If whole bluefish are headed and gutted at sea, then the conversion factor is 1:1.5.
Individual states are responsible for ensuring that their individual quotas are not exceeded and as such may design specific management measures best suited to their state. Because bluefish are highly migratory, this method of allocation prevents a single state from harvesting all of the coastwide quota before bluefish are available to other more northern or southern states. States are encouraged to develop regimes that will provide fishing opportunities throughout the season for all bluefish fisheries.
If the increase in commercial landings is attributed to the use of a highly efficient gear (purse seines, pair trawls, or runaround gill nets), then the highly efficient gear responsible for the increase in commercial landings will be regulated for the taking of bluefish in EEZ waters. Regulations to be considered include trip limits, area closures or restrictions, and other measures that may be appropriate, including gear prohibition. The Regional Director will implement specific management measures based on a recommendation by the Council and ASMFC. The states are encouraged to implement companion regulations to regulate that gear in state waters.
Commercial controls will remain in effect until conditions in either the recreational or commercial fishery warrant a retraction. The Bluefish FMP Review and Monitoring Committee (section 9.4), will annually review landing statistics to determine if commercial controls will be suspended.
The projections and proposed allocations will be published in the Federal Register with an opportunity for public comment.
Optimum Yield (OY) is all bluefish caught by US fishermen pursuant to this FMP, so retention of bluefish by foreign fishermen is prohibited. Foreign nations catching bluefish are subject to the incidental catch regulations set forth in 50 CFR 611.13, 611.14, and 611.50.