By PETER BAKER/ecoRI News contributor
We’ve seen a rash of stories recently on illegal fishing
in the Northeast, as enforcement officials take action on unreported catch.
Some of the numbers are eye-popping. One bust involved 56,000 pounds of
illegally caught and unreported summer flounder, also known as fluke. Another
charge alleged 86,000 unreported pounds of the same fish over three years.
Research indicates that those figures are no fluke — pardon the
pun. In fact, these recent incidents represent only a small fraction of illegal
and unreported catch. Studies show that most illegal fishing in the region
involves cheating on rules regarding the amount, type or size of fish allowed
to be caught, misreporting in dealer reports, or fishing in places set aside to
protect fish habitat and spawning areas.
Few people realize the extent of
illegal fishing, the harm it can do to ocean resources, and the ways in which
this cheating undermines efforts to measure and sustainably manage fisheries.
How much fish is that? Well, when
the authors took the midpoint of that estimate (18 percent) and applied it to
the actual landings from the time the study was conducted, they found that the
illegal catch would amount to more than 11 million pounds of fish, worth about
$13 million.
And what if those illegally caught fish had instead been left in
the water where they could grow and reproduce? The researchers give an estimate
of that loss, too. Over five years those fish could have contributed some 65
million pounds to the overall biomass of the groundfish stock.
That extra
supply would be a welcome bounty today, when many groundfish populations are so
low that the fishery has been declared a federal disaster, requiring tens of
millions of dollars in taxpayer assistance.
Fisheries managers are responding to some problem areas. In the
mid-Atlantic, for example, officials recently suspended use of a controversial
“set-aside” program that had allegedly been exploited to hide catch that
exceeded quotas. New England’s fishery managers have started looking into
reports of vessels employing net-liners and other fishing-gear modifications
that result in fish being caught under the legal size limit.
This “missing catch” from illegal fishing also complicates the
work of scientists and managers who need an accurate picture of what’s really
happening on the water. The actual mortality, or amount of fish killed, is a
key piece of information for estimating fish populations and setting
sustainable fishing levels.
The Marine Policy study found that even commercial fishermen
assume that about 10 percent to 15 percent of their colleagues are routinely
breaking the law. The researchers say that the odds of getting caught are slim,
while the payoff from cheating is “nearly five times the economic value of
expected penalties.”
All this illicit activity takes a toll on those fishermen who do
follow the rules. The researchers surveyed fishermen and discovered that many
believe that illegal fishing “will prevent them from ever benefiting from stock
rebuilding programs.”
This finding underscores one of the greatest damages.
Hardworking fishermen who do the right thing as stewards of the public resource
are cheated of their just reward of higher catches in the future. Although
enforcement may be unpopular to some, it is critical for any well-managed
fishery.
Peter Baker directs The Pew Charitable Trusts’ U.S. ocean
conservation efforts in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.