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March 31, 2010

Good monitoring imperative in herring count

To the editor:

In recent months there has been a lot discussion about the large quota cuts in the Atlantic herring fishery that took place this winter. While many fishermen in this region have little doubt that much of the problem was caused by the big midwater trawl fleet, another reason behind the cuts is uncertainty in the herring science. While there is a lot of debate about the cause of this uncertainty, it is possible that poor data is one of these causes.

For the last year and a half, the New England Fishery Management Council has been working on an amendment to the Atlantic herring Fishery Management Plan that is focused primarily on constructing a new monitoring system in the fishery. Monitoring is a key part of management in a number of fisheries as it allows for catch data to be gathered both at sea and on the shore. Effective monitoring is especially important in the herring fishery due to high volume of landings.

For many years monitoring levels in the herring fishery were incredibly low, leading many fishermen and managers to question the data that was being used to manage the fleet. As a result, the council began work on Amendment 5 in 2008 in order to develop and implement a better monitoring system. While bycatch was a big reason for getting a better monitoring system, many fishermen wanted to see better accounting of how much herring was being caught and dumped, as well. Many of us were concerned that there was more being caught than the numbers were showing.

At its meeting at the end of this month, the council's Herring Committee will be meeting in Portland to continue work on the monitoring alternatives in the amendment. It is incredibly important that the committee put forward a new monitoring system that will get accurate data. To get accurate data they need to make sure that there are high levels of observer coverage and that they are able to account for all the herring that is caught — whether landed or dumped. And if it is not possible to accurately account for what is being dumped, then they should find a way to stop dumping. There are other factors that will be key to a good monitoring system, those are two of the most important.

For too long this fishery has had weak monitoring and it is very possible that this had an impact on the recent quota cuts. So while there are already plenty of important reasons for the committee to develop a good monitoring system, that is another one that can be added to the list. Hopefully they do what is needed.

Steve McNally

Amesbury

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