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Can Marine Reserves Be Used In Balance With Other Traditional Marine Fisheries Management Tools? By Bob Fletcher Recreational fishing in southern California is alive, and enjoyed by close to a million anglers annually, who fish from the beach and bay, piers and jetties, as well as from private recreational boats of all sizes and commercial passenger fishing vessels up to 124 feet in length. Traditional management of recreational anglers has historically focused on minimum size limits, bag limits, seasons and gear restrictions. These tools have one thing in common. They restrict anglers, but do not prohibit their opportunity. That is key. Anglers are looking for the opportunity to catch fish, not necessarily a guarantee. But if they are prohibited from fishing due to loss of traditional fishing grounds to creation of marine reserves, they no longer have opportunity. Marine Reserves - "One Tool" The selective use of marine reserves in a fisheries management "mix" that includes those other traditional management tools could therefore be acceptable as long as enough opportunity remained to meet the needs of recreational anglers. Also, the siting of marine reserves must be done in concert with all other state and federal marine reserves processes, so that sufficient spread between reserves exists. Every port should have access to a reasonable amount of fishing grounds for various species, of course taking into account those species and habitats that are in need of special protection. Recreational anglers will always need access and opportunity. Marine reserves are not the "final solution," and must remain as one tool in the bag! No Substitute for "Adequate Science" Over the years the very limited west coast stock assessment money has routinely gone to the "squeaking wheel," that is, the fisheries groups that yelled the loudest and demanded the most "science" to support their harvests. The predictable result has been areas that have not had adult fish stock assessments for decades. If marine reserves are put in place in southern California coastal waters, the minimum that recreational anglers will demand will be baseline stock assessments of no-take areas before siting of a reserve, and ongoing assessments to document changes and hopefully increases in numbers and size of the species within the reserve boundaries. Enforcement of these closed areas will also be a critical component of any marine reserve. While marine reserves may e a positive step in fisheries management, it won't come without a significant cost, and those dollars will need to be in place before anyone in the recreational fishing community will feel good about supporting reserves. "Vision" Must Include Hope The last several years have seen an increasingly restrictive series of regulations implemented to protect declining bottomfish stocks. Increased minimum size limits, reduced bag limits, seasonal closures and gear restrictions have left anglers with the feeling that the light at the end of the tunnel is truly a train! Add to this picture the specter or marine no-take areas of some portion of their fishing grounds, and you are sure to see a lot of angry anglers! If managers determine that marine reserves are a necessary part of the "mix," then a vision of the future must be clearly articulated; a vision that spells out a future with more opportunity, access and healthier fish stocks. In addition, every effort must be made to include recreational anglers in every part of the process, and insure that adequate funding is made available to document the recovery of overfished stocks. Whenever possible those same managers must provide some level of opportunity and access to healthy stocks. A rosy picture of a bright future will mean little to a charterboat owners if he or she won't survive the tough times to share the good times when the vision becomes reality. It is a common perception among anglers that once the government takes something away, they will never get it back. If marine reserves are, as some are claiming, such a positive tool for recovering depleted fish stocks, then the future must include recovered stocks of fish that will provide more access and opportunity with less restrictions. This picture must be a part of the vision, and must be repeated constantly. Reserves are not a panacea, and their use can't be excessive. They must be implemented selectively in an intelligently coordinated approach that utilizes all the tools in the managers' bag. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act encourages conservation of marine resources, but also encourages managers to, "...(to the extent practicable), minimize adverse economic impacts to [fishing] communities." Angler Expenditures An Economic Engine Recreational fisheries are an economic engine that helps drive coastal communities, and so the nation's interest in protecting marine fish and their habitats through the use of marine reserves must be balanced with efforts to minimize the adverse impacts on the Sportfishing industry and recreational anglers in general. After all, we are all after the same thing: healthy fisheries. We all want to be around to see that vision become reality! Saving fishermen while we recover fish seems to make good economic sense! Bob was born and raised in San Diego, CA. After graduating from Stanford University and serving four years as an officer in the Air Force, Bob returned to San Diego to pass his test for an ocean operators' license. For the next 12 years, Bob skippered and owned charterboats, and fished commercially for tuna and swordfish. In the 1980s, Bob was Deputy, and later Chief Deputy Director, for the CA Dept. of Fish & Game. In the 1990s, Bob was a member and also Chairman of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. |