Did Commercial Fishermen Do Enough?
“If the commercial sector had taken a larger reduction last time, we wouldn’t be here now, needing even more harvest reductions.”
This is not the first time hearing this. We hear it almost every time flounder management is mentioned but today, I want to focus on blue crab.
In 2020, the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) determined that to end overfishing of blue crabs, a 0.4% harvest reduction was needed, and to rebuild the stock within ten years a 2.2% harvest reduction was required.
The Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) approved five quantifiable management measures to achieve a 2.4% harvest reduction.
Quantifiable Management Measures
-January 1 – January 31 season closure north of Hwy. 58 bridge
-March 1 – March 15 season closure south of Hwy. 58 bridge
-A 5-inch minimum size limit for mature female crabs statewide
-Maintain the ban on harvest of immature female crabs
-Maintain the 5% cull tolerance
These measures are just part of everything we have done to help conserve the blue crab stock.
Additional Conservation Efforts Not Quantified
Beyond these quantifiable reductions, the MFC implemented seven additional management measures that, while not formally calculated, were specifically designed to increase juvenile abundance, and protect spawning females.
Unquantifiable Management Measures from Amendment 3
-Expanding crab spawning sanctuaries – 14 new, 2 expanded
-Strengthening cull ring regulations to improve juvenile escapement
-Maintaining seasonal dark sponge crab harvest restriction
-Highlighting water quality impacts
-Creating Diamondback Terrapin Management Areas with excluder devices
-Continuing the ban on crab dredging
-Continuing to restrict crab bycatch in the mechanical oyster fishery
Although these conservation methods were deemed unquantifiable, DMF told us that these actions would help rebuild the blue crab fishery. And I believe the data suggest they are working.
Data Shows the Impact
-Landings declined 2020 to 2022 – which is expected when implementing
conservation measures
-In 2023 and 2024 landings increased – signaling a recovering stock
-Participation has not increased since 2020 – these increased landings are not
because of increased effort
-Landings per trip remains stable, further indicating stock growth
The commercial sector did everything that was asked of them and more! We took responsibility, we made sacrifices, and we saw results!
Has DMF Done Their Part?
Commercial fishermen have gone above and beyond what was asked of them. The only question that remains is has the DMF done the same?
All stock assessments include a list of research recommendations. This list includes necessary research to properly manage and rebuild our fish stocks. These recommendations did not come from the commercial sector or from the MFC; these recommendations are DMF’s own self-identified priorities!
How many of these recommendations has DMF accomplished since 2020?
Research Recommendations
-implement long term monitoring of blue crab discards in other fisheries
-develop statewide fishery-independent survey(s) to monitor the abundance of all
blue crab life stages
-expand time and area coverage of existing fishery-independent surveys
-better characterize the magnitude of recreational harvest
-develop better estimates of life-history parameters, especially growth and
natural mortality
-explore alternative biological reference points
-research interaction rates of non-target species in the blue crab fishery and identify factors that may lead to interactions
-characterize the harvest and discard of blue crabs from crab shedding operations
-explore alternative model types
-investigate and support research on promising methods to age blue crabs
-evaluate the genetic stock structure of blue crabs within NC and the magnitude of mixing between populations
-identify programs outside the NCDMF that collect data of potential use to the stock assessment of NC’s blue crabs
These are not new recommendations. Some of these items were data needs recommended in the original blue crab FMP from 1998!
Long lists of research recommendations that never get completed is not only a problem affecting blue crab management. These recommendations that never get completed can be seen in every stock assessment regardless of the species.
Without this information, many assumptions must be made that increase the uncertainty in a stock assessment. Maybe this is why the blue crab and southern flounder stock assessments both did not hold up to scientific scrutiny after they were updated with just a few years of data.
Demand Accountability
Commercial fishermen have been long held accountable and gone above and beyond what the DMF has required us to do! It is beyond time for the DMF to be held to the same standard!
If DMF truly believes more restrictions are necessary, they must first answer:
-Why have they not done their recommended research?
-How can they justify more reductions when they have not collected the
necessary data?
-Why should commercial fishermen be the only ones making sacrifices?
Go to the meeting next week and demand answers.
We did our part. Now it’s their turn!
Thomas Newman
Fisheries Liaison
