Friday, February 26th, 2010
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The Council’s Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) met at the NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, February 23-25. |
The HMSMT spent most of Tuesday talking about Amendment 2 to the HMS FMP, which would make changes to be consistent with the revised National Standard 1 Guidelines finalized by NMFS in 2009. The Council is scheduled to adopt a range of alternatives for public review at their April meeting in Sacramento. The HMSMT based their discussion on their report from November 2009.
First, they talked about possible reclassification of managed and monitored species in the FMP as ecosystem component (EC) species, a new category in the Guidelines. The HMSMT decided that bigeye and pelagic thresher sharks, and possibly blue shark, may be considered for reclassification in the EC category, because they tend to be less frequently landed in west coast fisheries. Currently, the HMS FMP has a list of monitored species, which would go into the EC category. The Team identified three species on the monitored list, opah, louvar, and escolar, that have documented commercial landings of some magnitude and therefore one or more of these species may be considered for reclassification as a managed species.
Second, the HMSMT talked about which species should be considered for the “international exception.” (This provision in the Guidelines stats that ACLs don’t need to be set for species managed under an international agreement such as U.S. participation in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission.) In November 2009 the Council told the HMSMT to develop two alternatives for this issue, one where all the HMS are subject to the exception and another where all species except for common thresher and shortfin mako shark would be excepted. Suzy Kohin, from the SWFSC, presented tag data on these two species, showing their movements. This information suggests that common thresher shark found off the west coast tend to have a more coastal distribution compared to shortfin mako, which according to the tag returns, ranges widely from the west coast. This could have implications on whether or not to apply the international exemption to these species.
Third, the group had a conference call with Paul Dalzell, WPFMC staff, and Keith Bigelow, Chair of the Pelagics Plan Team, about designating the “primary FMP” for the purpose of identifying reference points (e.g., MSY). Since the species in the HMS FMP are also in the WPFMC’s Pelagics FMP, this provision of the Guidelines is relevant. The HMSMT learned that the WPFMC may reclassify the pelagic sharks in their FMP as EC species. This may need to be taken into account when the Pacific Council decides what to do with the HMS FMP species.
Finally, the HMSMT talked about how reference points and ACLs might be determined for the managed species in the HMS FMP. Although MSYs and OYs, or proxies for these values, are included the FMP, the Team talked about whether these estimates need to be updated or calculated in another way.
Oysters on the grill at the HMSMT barbecue
On Tuesday evening the HMSMT, members of the public sitting in on the meeting, and some folks from the SWFSC enjoyed a barbecue on the Scripps campus, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The menu featured grilled oysters, white seabass, pasta salad prepared by Suzy Kohin, and delicious desserts from Steve Stohs and Leeanne Laughlin. Thanks go to all the HMSMT members and SWFSC staff that helped organize the event and prepare the food!
On Wednesday the HMSMT grappled with an assignment from the Council to review a finalized version of the albacore white paper presented to the Council in November 2009, present information to inform a decision about changing the current March 9, 2000, control date, and, related to that, whether the Council should begin considering fishing effort limitation measures for the west coast albacore troll/baitboat fishery. The Team examined data that had been prepared by Kit Dahl in an effort to depict participation in the fishery since 1996. Team members made various recommendations for how this information could be incorporated into a Team Report for the April Council meeting, when this issue is on the agenda. At the end of the day the Team had outlined the contents of their report.
On Thursday the HMSMT heard several very useful informational briefings. First, Joe Terry, currently working at the SWFSC, talked about a feasibility study for using electronic logbooks to collect biological and economic data in west coast HMS and CPS fisheries. Joe is interested in Council input on development of such a program so expect to hear more about this in the future. Craig Heberer gave a brief overview of the proposed critical habitat designation for leatherback sea turtles. He attended a public meeting in Carlsbad, CA where NMFS solicited comments. The Council will have an opportunity to comment on this issue at their upcoming April meeting in Sacramento. Finally, Daniel Cartamil from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography presented research results on the distribution of the common thresher shark in the California Bight, including Mexican waters. With his colleagues–CICISE student Miguel Olivares, Professor Jeff Graham of Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and Dr. Oscar Sosa, Head of Fisheries Research, CICESE Ensenada, Mexico– he presented some fascinating information on artisanal fisheries catching sharks on the Pacific coast of the Baja Peninsula. This information could help in the HMSMT’s deliberations on establishing an annual catch limit for this species per the National Standard 1 Guidelines.
Overall, the two-and-a-half day meeting gave the HMSMT a great jump start on developing their reports for the April Council meeting.
Sunset over the Pacific Ocean with Scripps Pier in the foreground.
