ML072060543

Asmfc Fisheries Focus - Species Profile: Bluefish

ML072060543
Person / Time
Site:	Oyster Creek
Issue date:	05/01/2006
From:	Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
To:	Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Davis J NRR/DLR/REBB, 415-3835
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Species Profile: Bluefish Joint Plan Seeks to Restore Premier Fighting Fish Introduction Bluefish are one of the most sought after recreational species along the Atlantic coast.

In the late 1970s, anglers petitioned the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) to develop a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Bluefish to address con-icerns over the potential for harvest of bluefish by tuna purse seiners. Today, bluefish are jointly managed by the Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Com-mission (Commission). The Bluefish FMP, developed in the late 80s, is the first management plan developed jointly by an interstate commission and regional fishery management council. As a result of harvest restrictionsim posed under Amendment 1 (1998), bluefish are rebuilding, with 2004 stock biomass estimated at 104 million pounds, above the current biomass threshold of 73.5 million pounds.

Life History Bluefish are a migratory, pelagic species found throughout the world in most temper-ate, coastal regions, except the eastern Pacific. Bluefish migrate seasonally, moving north in spring and summer as water temperatures rise and moving south in autumn and winter to waters in the South Atlantic Bight. During the summer, concentrations of bluefish are found in waters from Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In winter they tend to be found offshore between Cape Hatteras and Florida. Bluefish generally school by size, with schools that can cover tens of square miles of ocean, equivalent to around 10,000 football fields.

Bluefish feed voraciously on their prey, eating almost anything they can catch and swallow. Over 70 species of fish have been found in their stomach contents, including butterfish, mackerel, and lobster. Razor sharp teeth and a shearing jaw movement allow bluefish to ingest large parts, which increases the maximum prey size bluefish catch. Bluefish live for up to 12 years and may exceed lengths of 39 inches and

• weights of 31 pounds.

Bluefish reach sexual maturity at age two and spawn offshore from Massachusetts through. Florida. Discrete groups spawn at differ-ent times and are referred to by the, season in which they spawn: the spring-spawned cohort and the

• summer-spawned cohort. Recent research has also identified a fall-spawned cohort, demonstrating an expansive and prolonged spawning season. The co-horts mix extensively on the fishing grounds and probably comprise a single genetic stock.

Recreational & Commercial Fisheries

) J(r) I Bluefish are caught along the entire Atlantic coast.

Recreational anglers from New England to the upper part of the South Atlantic pursue blues, no doubt due to their aggressive feeding habits and the spirited fight. According to the Marine Recre-ational Fisheries Statistics Survey, recreational catch averaged 60 million pounds annually from 1981 Poocuts fN iiino to 1993. Catch declined from 93 million pounds Marine Fisheries Excerpted from ASMFC Fisheries Focus, Vol. 15, Issue 4. May 2006 CA.Z IAsmrC Z~Oc*o

in 1986 to 11 million pounds in 2002. Since Figure 1. Total Bluefish Landings, with Estimated Fishing Mortality 2002, total catch has increased and reached Source: Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop, 2005 16 million pounds in 2005. 140 0.50 EMILandings 0.45 120 Commercially, bluefish are harvested using *Fishing Mortality 0.40 a variety of fishing gear including trawls, 8.S100 gillnets, haul seines, and pound nets. The 80 0.31O commercial fishery landed 5.9 million 7. 02.05 pounds in 2005, down from eight million 00 pounds in 2000, and the peak of 16.5 mil- g 40 lion pounds in 1981. 010 0.05 Stock Status 0*00 The most recent stock status information in- N0 '0'O N~

9..." 'R g10 'MT dicates that bluefish are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring, based on the biological reference points developed in the Figure 2. Estimated Bluefish Biomass, 1982 -2004 2005 stock assessment (see sidebar opposite Source: Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop, 2005 250 page). Trends in state and Northeast Fisher-ies Science Center data show a decreasing *. - -Slonass Target trend in fishing mortality, an increasing 7 200 trend in population biomass, and an increas-40 ing trend in population numbers. Popula- 150------------------------------- - - - --

tion abundance estimates show a general in-crease in overall abundance since 1997. '100 100 amentl 0.

Abundance peaked in 1982 at 176 million CC fish, declined to 57 million fish in the mid- 50 1990s and has since increased to 92 million fish. h, L N P o o N at at ~~

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While the 2005 stock assessment was ap-proved for management purposes, a num-ber of research needs were identified including increased collection of age data, improved estimates of discard mortality, and initiation of tagging studies to improve understanding of migration and distribution.

Atlantic Coastal Management Considerations The Commission and Council approved Amendment 1 to the FMP in 1998. Amendment I allocates 83 percent of the resource to recreational fisheries and 17 percent to commercial fisheries. However, the commercial quota can be increased up to 10.5 million pounds if the recreational fishery is projected to not land its entire allocation for the upcoming year. The commercial fishery is controlled through state-by-state quotas based on historic landings from 1981-1989. The recreational fishery is managed using a 15 fish bag limit. The Commission and NOAA Fisheries approved a total allowable landings limit of 24.8 million pounds for 2006. Of that amount, the Commission allocated 9.5 million pounds to the commercial fishery.

Based on updated landings projections that suggest that recreational harvest levels could be exceeded, NOAA Fisheries allocated 7.9 million'pounds to the commercial fishery.

Amendment 1 established a rebuilding schedule that sets a target fishing mortality (F) value to achieve a biomass that will support the maximum sustainable yield by year 2008, while providing the Commission and Council with the flexibility to modify the management program based on changes in the fishery or the resource. For the first two years of the bluefish rebuilding schedule (1999-2000), F was set at 0.51, reduced to 0.41 in years 3-5 (2001-2003) and finally to 0.31 in years 6-9 (2004-2007). During the rebuilding pe-riod, the target F for the next fishing year will be set at the level specified lt g.

in the schedule or the level estimated for the most recent year, whichever is lower. This strategy has allowed for rebuilding of the resource.

2 Excerpted from ASMFC Fisheries Focus, Vol. 15, Issue 4, May 2006