Contact: Gordon Helm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 713-2370 3/20/95
The National Marine Fisheries Service has released its Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement on bluefin tuna management alternatives, and the preferred alternative for 1995 includes a modest increase in the overall national bluefin quota, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today. The agency is seeking public comment until May 1.
In recent years, annual quotas had been steadily decreasing due to declining stock levels indicated by International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) assessments. The ICCAT-recommended quota for western Atlantic bluefin tuna in 1995, which NMFS is adhering to, is 2,200 metric tons, of which the United States receives 1,311 tons.
The fisheries service proposes to implement a regulatory amendment for the 1995 bluefin tuna fishery consistent with recommendations from the 1994 meeting of ICCAT. At that meeting, ICCAT officials recognized conservation efforts by the United States to control its tuna harvest, and recommended a slight increase in the 1995 quota.
In the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS), four national quota alternatives are examined in combination with five domestic quota allocation and three access control alternatives. The preferred domestic allocation alternative for this yearþs quota is not to reallocate at the present time. However, within a few months, NMFS will explore alternative methods of domestic allocation -- especially market- driven allocation options -- for 1996 and beyond, and will seek public comment.
The fisheries service examined a number of options in preparation for the 1995 proposed regulatory amendment, which will be published in April 1995. A revised stock assessment for western Atlantic bluefin tuna has resulted in a more optimistic prognosis for the stock, although the various alternatives examined in the SDEIS showed a marked difference in the rate of stock rebuilding. For example, the spawning and total biomass of the stock would increase most rapidly under a closure of the small fish fishery, but the economic losses associated with closure of the recreational fishery would be extremely high. As a result, NMFS did not choose this as the preferred alternative.
Among the economic alternatives considered are trade-offs between short-term economic benefits (net revenues and angler consumer surplus) and long-term biological benefits (increases in stock size). Economic analysis of the alternatives demonstrates that net benefits from the commercial fishery are lowest under closure of the Gulf of Mexico incidental long line fishery, and highest under a closure of the small fish fishery.
In contrast, net benefits from the recreational fishery are highest under reduction of the purse seine category and lowest under closure of the small fish fishery. There are clear trade- offs between the commercial and recreational fisheries in establishing domestic quota allocations.
Under a closure of the purse seine category, the present value of net economic benefits over the 16-year analysis period is slightly lower for the commercial fishery, and somewhat higher for the recreational fishery. The total net effects dependent on the absolute values in each category, as well as the proportion reallocated to remaining categories.
The fisheries service also reviewed three access control management alternatives. Access control alternatives address overcapitalization in the fishery, and vary widely in operation and effects on the fishery, such as fairness, acceptability, management costs, employment and overall economic efficiency.
The public comment period on the SDEIS ends on May 1, 1995. Written comments can be mailed to Mr. Richard Stone, Chief, Highly Migratory Species Management Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, FCM4, Room 14853, 1315 East-West Highway, Building SSMC3, Silver Spring, Md. 20910; or faxed to (301) 713- 0596. Public hearings on the SDEIS and the proposed regulatory amendment will be held at a number of locations along the Atlantic seaboard in April 1995. Details on those hearings will be announced at a later date.