Current Season Management: Current Regulations/Season
2009-2011 Biennial Harvest Specifications
In June 2008 the Council initiated the second cycle for adopting biennial harvest specifications and management measures since the HMS FMP was implemented. At the Highly Migratory Species Management Team’s (HMSMT) recommendation, the Council decided to pursue management measures for the recreational thresher shark fishery in Southern California. This recreational fishery component has rapidly expanded in the last few years and occurs in an area that is reproductively important to the stock and has been closed to commercial fishing for that very reason. Although data are limited, there is concern that the fishery, if unchecked, could result in local depletion. At the September 2008 meeting the Council adopted a range of alternatives for thresher shark management measures. These included seasonal area closures for both the recreational and commercial fisheries, mandatory data reporting for recreational fishing tournaments, bag limits, and gear modifications to reduce tail hooking. A preliminary preferred alternative was identified, consisting of seasonal closures and mandatory tournament data reporting. At the September 2008 meeting the Council also considered whether to revise vessel marking requirements to make them consistent with new requirements of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) for vessels fishing west of 150° W longitude but decided not to take action on this issue. The Council took final action at the November 2008 meeting on the thresher shark measures. In their final action, the Council rejected the seasonal closures proposed in their preliminary preferred alternative and instead made several non-regulatory recommendations for improved public outreach, research, data collection, and fishery monitoring. The HMSMT put together a proposal through the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) to address the noted thresher shark recreational data collection needs. The proposal was received favorably by the MRIP Executive Steering Committee and FY 2009 funding was awarded. Planning aspects for the project are underway with field work/data collection slated for the spring of 2010.
