PACIFIC COUNCIL TAKES A STEP CLOSER TO
ECOSYSTEM-BASED MANAGEMENT FOR FORAGE FISH

6/23/10  The Pacific Fishery Management Council on June 15th voted to expand the number of important forage species covered under its Coastal Pelagic Species fishery management plan (CPS FMP) and approved new, more conservative harvest guidelines as part of Amendment 13 to the FMP. The CPS plan sets catch limits for sardine and Pacific mackerel, prohibits harvest of krill, and monitors other prey species, including squid, anchovy and jack mackerel.

The council added Pacific herring and jack smelt as “ecosystem component” species, noting their critical role as prey for salmon and groundfish in particular. “We asked the council to add all important forage species to the CPS plan because of the clear need to consider the status of the forage base as a whole when setting catch limits for any single species,” says National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC) president Ken Hinman, who testified at the council meeting in Foster City, CA. “Adding these two fish is another step toward developing a true west coast forage fish plan.”

Eventually, information gathered on the status of a wide range of forage species and their role in the food web will be included in the council’s Ecosystem FMP, which is just getting underway but could be years in the making. NCMC joined with the CPS Advisory Panel and Habitat Committee in urging the council to make work on the E-FMP a priority.

In other action, the council approved a change in how annual catch limits for sardine and mackerel are determined in order to comply with the new Magnuson-Stevens Act National Standard 1 Guidelines. NCMC testified that the harvest control rule for sardine must conform to the NS1 objective of maintaining biomass above the MSY level (the standard for maximizing yields to the fisheries) in order to leave adequate forage for the ecosystem. We presented data showing that, over the last 10 years, the average sardine biomass has been well below this target.

The new harvest control rule adopted by the council includes a precautionary buffer to account for uncertainty in the annual estimate of sardine biomass. Ecological factors, namely ensuring adequate prey for predators, will be considered when the council sets its final catch limit. New language was added to the CPS FMP emphasizing that the council must consider these ecological factors when setting allowable catches.

“These are all good moves in the right direction,” said Hinman. “Going ahead, it will be up to us – those in the fishing and conservation community who care - to make sure that the council fulfills its responsibility to consider the importance of maintaining a high abundance of sardine, mackerel and other species as forage when it sets annual catch limits later this year.”

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HERRING AND OTHER LITTLE FISH
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Be sure to check our publication released August 2006:  Taking the Bait -- Are America's Fisheries Out-Competing Predators for their Prey?

Download our Forage First! Fish File, an educational fact sheet.

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