History of Molluscan Fishery Regulations and the Shellfish Officer Service in Massachusetts

Oysters, Crassostrea virginica, and softshell clams, Mya arenaria, along the Massachusetts coast were harvested by European colonists beginning in the 1600’s. By the 1700’s, official Commonwealth rules were established to regulate their harvests. In the final quarter of the 1800’s, commercial fishermen began harvesting northern quahogs, Mercenaria mercenaria, and northern bay scallops, Argopecten irradians irradians, and regulations established by the Massachusetts Legislature were applied to their harvests also. Constables (also termed wardens), whose salaries were paid by the local towns, enforced the regulations, which centered on restricting harvests to certain seasons, preventing seed from being taken, and personal daily limits on harvests. In 1933, the Massachusetts Legislature turned over shellfisheries management to individual towns. Local constables (wardens) enforced the rules. In the 1970’s, the Massachusetts Shellfish Officers Association was formed, and was officially incorporated in 2000, to help the constables deal with increasing environmental problems in estuaries where fishermen harvest mollusks. The constables’ stewardship of the molluscan resources and the estuarine environments and promotion of the fisheries has become increasingly complex.

Review of the California Trawl Fishery for Pacific Ocean Shrimp, Pandalus jordani, from 1992 to 2007

The commercial bottom trawl fishery for Pacific ocean shrimp, Pandalus jordani, or pink shrimp, operates mostly off the west coast of the contiguous United States. The California portion of the fishery has not been thoroughly documented or reviewed since the 1991 fishing season, despite its fluctuating more during the last 16 years (1992–2007) than at any other period in its 56-year history. We used fishery-dependent data, California Department of Fish and Game commercial landing receipts and logbook data, to analyze trends and review the California pink shrimp trawl fishery from 1992 to 2007. In particular, we focus on the most recent years of the fishery (2001–07) to highlight the gear developments and key management measures implemented in the fishery. The fishery is primarily driven by market conditions and is highly regulated by both state and Federal management agencies. Several key regulatory measures implemented during this decade have had significant effects on the fishery. For example, the requirement of a Bycatch Reduction Device on trawl nets targeting pink shrimp was approved in 2001 and has greatly reduced levels of finfish bycatch. Fishery production has declined, particularly in recent years, and may be attributed to decreased market prices, followed by reduced fishermen participation; both of which are related to changes in the processing sector and demand for the product.

Extending the Bajo de Sico, Puerto Rico, Seasonal Closure: An Examination of Small-scale Fishermen’s Perceptions of Possible Socio-economic Impacts on Fishing Practices, Families, and Community

Despite considerable conservation efforts, many reef fish fisheries around the world continue to be in peril. Many are vulnerable to overexploitation because they have predictable and highly aggregated spawning events. In U.S. Caribbean waters, fishery managers are increasingly interested in advancing the use of closed areas as a means for rebuilding reef fisheries, protecting coral reef habitats, and furthering ecosystem-based management while maintaining the sustained participation of local fishing communities. This study details small-scale fishermen’s views on the Caribbean Fishery Management Council’s proposals to lengthen the current Bajo de Sico seasonal closure off the west coast of Puerto Rico to afford additional protection to snapper-grouper spawning populations and associated coral reef habitats. Drawing on snowball sampling techniques, we interviewed 65 small-scale fishermen who regularly operate in the Bajo de Sico area. Snowball sampling is a useful method to sample difficult-to-find populations. Our analysis revealed that the majority of the respondents opposed a longer seasonal closure in the Bajo de Sico area, believing that the existing 3-month closure afforded ample protection to reef fish spawning aggregations and that their gear did not impact deep-water corals in the area. Whilst fishermen’s opposition to additional regulations was anticipated, the magnitude of the socio-economic consequences described was unexpected. Fishermen estimated that a year round closure would cause their gross household income to fall between 10% and 80%, with an average drop of 48%. Our findings suggest that policy analysts and decision-makers should strive to better understand the cumulative impacts of regulations given the magnitude of the reported socio-economic impacts; and, more importantly, they should strive to enhance the existing mechanisms by which fishermen can contribute their knowledge and perspectives into the management process.

Chartered Trawling on the Brazilian Slope

Commercial trawling on the Atlantic slope areas off Brazil intensified in the late 1990’s owing to the expansion of coastal trawling areas and the operations of a chartered foreign fleet. Between 2000 and 2003, 59 fishing trips conducted by 10 chartered trawlers were intensely monitored by observers and satellite vessel monitoring systems, totaling 9,069 tows and 30,085.2 trawling hours. Fishing operations occurred in northern, northeastern, southeastern, and southern sectors of the Brazilian coast in 60–1,173 m depths. Total retained and processed catch were 8,074.6 t and 6,479.8 t, respectively. Argentine hake, Merluccius hubbsi; and Argentine shortfin squid, Illex argentinus, were the primary species taken contributing to 41.1% and 28.6% of the overall catch, respectively. The silver John dory, Zenopsis conchifera; monkfish, Lophius gastrophysus; Brazilian codling, Urophycis mystacea; and the black grouper, Epinephelus nigritus, composed 23% of total processed catch, and the remaining 7.2% was composed of deep-sea shrimps (family Aristeidae) and other teleosts and elasmobranches. The occupation of slope areas included an early exploratory phase, followed by directed phases of the upper slope (300–500 m), aiming principally at the Argentine hake, and the lower slope (>700 m), targeting valuable concentrations of deep-sea aristeid shrimps. The role of chartering for slope trawling development was critically addressed. We conclude that chartered vessels were efficient explorers and were particularly important in areas not available to the technologically limited national fleet. Because the charters were market-oriented and had elevated profit demands, however, those vessels quickly turned from exploration to exploitation and competed with national trawlers in shallower areas and produced significant impacts on Brazil’s modest deep-sea resources.

History of Alaska Red King Crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, Bottom Trawl Surveys, 1940–61

Thirteen bottom trawl surveys conducted in Alaska waters for red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, during 1940–61 are largely forgotten today even though they helped define our current knowledge of this resource. Government publications on six exploratory surveys (1940–49, 1957) included sample locations and some catch composition data, but these documents are rarely referenced. Only brief summaries of the other seven annual (1955–61) grid-patterned trawl surveys from the eastern Bering Sea were published. Although there have been interruptions in sampling and some changes in the trawl survey methods, a version of this grid-patterned survey continues through the present day, making it one of the oldest bottom-trawl surveys in U.S. waters. Unfortunately, many of the specific findings made during these early efforts have been lost to the research community. Here, we report on the methods, results, and significance of these early surveys, which were collated from published reports and the unpublished original data sheets so that researchers might begin incorporating this information into stock assessments, ecosystem trend analyses, and perhaps even revise the baseline population distribution and abundance estimates.

Overview of the U.S. East Coast Bottom Longline Shark Fishery, 1994–2003

The U.S. Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico commercial shark fisheries have greatly expanded over the last 30 years, yet fishery managers still lack much of the key information required to accurately assess many shark stocks. Fishery observer programs are one tool that can be utilized to acquire this information. The Commercial Shark Fishery Observer Program monitors the U.S. Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico commercial bottom longline (BLL) large coastal shark fishery. Data gathered by observers were summarized for the 10-year period, 1994 to 2003. A total of 1,165 BLL sets were observed aboard 96 vessels, with observers spending a total of 1,509 days at sea. Observers recorded data regarding the fishing gear and methods used, species composition, disposition of the catch, mortality rates, catch per unit of effort (sharks per 10,000 hook hours), and bycatch of this fishery. Fishing practices, species composition, and bycatch varied between regions, while catch rates, mortality rates, and catch disposition varied greatly between species.

Catches of Humpback Whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, by the Soviet Union and Other Nations in the Southern Ocean, 1947–1973

From 1947 to 1973, the U.S.S.R. conducted a huge campaign of illegal whaling worldwide. We review Soviet catches of humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, in the Southern Ocean during this period, with an emphasis on the International Whaling Commission’s Antarctic Management Areas IV, V, and VI (the principal regions of illegal Soviet whaling on this species, south of Australia and western Oceania). Where possible, we summarize legal and illegal Soviet catches by year, Management Area, and factory fleet, and also include information on takes by other nations. Soviet humpback catches between 1947 and 1973 totaled 48,702 and break down as follows: 649 (Area I), 1,412 (Area II), 921 (Area III), 8,779 (Area IV), 22,569 (Area V), and 7,195 (Area VI), with 7,177 catches not currently assignable to area. In all, at least 72,542 humpback whales were killed by all operations (Soviet plus other nations) after World War II in Areas IV (27,201), V (38,146), and VI (7,195). More than one-third of these (25,474 whales, of which 25,192 came from Areas V and VI) were taken in just two seasons, 1959–60 and 1960–61. The impact of these takes, and of those from Area IV in the late 1950’s, is evident in the sometimes dramatic declines in catches at shore stations in Australia, New Zealand, and at Norfolk Island. When compared to recent estimates of abundance and initial population size, the large removals from Areas IV and V indicate that the populations in these regions remain well below pre-exploitation levels despite reported strong growth rates off eastern and western Australia. Populations in many areas of Oceania continue to be small, indicating that the catches from Area VI and eastern Area V had long-term impacts on recovery.

A Whale of a Deception

In late October of 1966, an imposing ship steamed quietly through the placid waters of the Suez Canal. Clad in drab industrial gray, and flying a Soviet hammer and sickle flag at her masthead, the vessel was accompanied by a large fleet of smaller craft. Any observer able to decipher Cyrillic script could have read, in rusting metallic letters on her bow, the name Sovetskaya Ukraina. The more experienced would perhaps have identified her as a whaling factory ship, traveling with her attendant fleet of catcher boats and scouting vessels on a transit that would take them south into the Red Sea and beyond.

The Truth About Soviet Whaling: A Memoir

In November 1993, Professor Alexei Yablokov, who at the time was the Science Advisor to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, stood on a podium in Galveston, Tex., and delivered a speech to the Society for Marine Mammalogy’s biennial conference, the premier international event in the field of marine mammal science. Addressing the 1,500 scientists present, he made what amounted to a national confession: that, beginning in 1948, the U.S.S.R. had begun a huge campaign of illegal whaling. Despite being a signatory to the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (signed in Washington, D.C., just 2 years before in 1946), the Soviets set out to pillage the world’s ocean

A. A. Berzin and His Memoir

Alfred A. Berzin began to study whales in 1955 at the Pacific Research and Fisheries Center (TINRO) in Vladivostok where he is still working at the present time. In the years before the rapid development of Soviet whaling only two fleets (Aleut and Second Kuril) were hunting whales.

The Truth About Soviet Whaling

I have always condemned (and to do anything more was not within our power or abilities) the illegal and sometimes destructive whaling by the Soviet Union. This opinion was expressed in numerous documents, including reports and records of presentations at scientific and other meetings; these documents are the witnesses to this condemnation. However, none of these documents ever saw the light of day: all of them were marked with the sinister stamp “secret.” When necessary in this memoir, my opinion of the whaling will be supported by data drawn from these docume

The Status of the United States Population of Night Shark, Carcharhinus signatus

Night sharks, Carcharhinus signatus, are an oceanic species generally occurring in outer continental shelf waters in the western North Atlantic Ocean including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Although not targeted, night sharks make up a segment of the shark bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery. Historically, night sharks comprised a significant proportion of the artisanal Cuban shark fishery but today they are rarely caught. Although information from some fisheries has shown a decline in catches of night sharks, it is unclear whether this decline is due to changes in fishing tactics, market, or species identification. Despite the uncertainty in the decline, the night shark is currently listed as a species of concern due to alleged declines in abundance resulting from fishing effort, i.e. overutilization. To assess their relevance to the species of concern list, we collated available information on the night shark to provide an analysis of its status. Night shark landings were likely both over- and under-reported and thus probably did not reflect all commercial and recreational catches, and overall they have limited relevance to the current status of the species. Average size information has not changed considerably since the 1980’s based on information from the pelagic longline fishery when corrected for gear bias. Analysis of biological information indicates night sharks have intrinsic rates of increase (r) about 10% yr–1 and have moderate rebound potential and an intermediate generation time compared to other sharks. An analysis of trends in relative abundance from four data sources gave conflicting results, with one series in decline, two series increasing, and one series relatively flat. Based on the analysis of all currently available information, we believe the night shark does not qualify as a species of concern but should be retained on the prohibited species list as a precautionary approach to management until a more comprehensive stock assessment can be conducted.

Pacific Hake, Merluccius productus, Autecology: A Timely Review

Pacific hake, Merluccius productus, the most abundant groundfish in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), is a species of both commercial significance, supporting a large international fishery, and ecological importance, connecting other species as both predator and prey. Coastal Pacific hake migrations are characterized by movements between northern summer feeding areas and southern winter spawning areas, with variations in annual abundance, distribution, and the extent of these movements associated with varying climate-ocean conditions. In general, warm (cool) years with enhanced (reduced) stratification and poleward (equatorward) transport are often related to good (poor) recruitment, increased (decreased) northward distribution, and reduced (enhanced) growth. However, the classic periodic pattern of annual migration and distribution may no longer be fully representative. Based on recent advances in the understanding of climate-ocean variability off the U.S. west coast, we hypothesize that the annual movements of Pacific hake are more responsive to climate-ocean variability than previously thought, and further, that changes observed in Pacific hake distributions may reflect long-term changes in climate-ocean conditions in the CCLME. Therefore, an updated model of these relations is key to effective monitoring and management of this stock, as well as to devising scenarios of future change in the CCLME as a result of climate variations. The current state of knowledge of the relationship between the Pacific hake and its environment is reviewed, highlighting emerging ideas compared to those of the past, and priorities for future research are suggested.

Long-term Trends in Catch Composition from Elasmobranch Derbies in Elkhorn Slough, California

Long-term trends in the elasmobranch assemblage of Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay, California, were analyzed by documenting species composition and catch per unit effort (CPUE) from 55 sport fishing derbies that occurred during May, June, and July, from 1951 until 1995. The most abundant species (bat ray, Myliobatis californica; shovelnose guitarfish, Rhinobatos productus; and leopard shark, Triakis semifasciata) were also analyzed for size-weight relationships, trends in size class distribution, stage of maturity, and sex ratios. Changes in species composition over the course of the derbies included the near complete disappearance of shovelnose guitarfish by the 1970’s and a slight increase in the abundance of minor species (mainly smoothhounds, Mustelus spp., and thornback, Platyrhinoidis triseriata) starting in the mid 1960’s. The relative abundance of bat rays in the catch steadily increased over the years while the relative abundance of leopard sharks declined during the last two decades. However the average number of bat rays and leopard sharks caught per derby declined during the last two decades. Fishing effort appeared to increase over the course of the derbies. There were no dramatic shifts in the size class distribution data for bat rays, leopard sharks, or shovelnose guitarfish. The catch of bat rays and leopard sharks was consistently dominated by immature individuals, while the catch of shovelnose guitarfish was heavily dominated by adults. There was evidence of sexual segregation in either immature or mature fish in all the species. Female bat rays and shovelnose guitarfish were larger than their male counterparts and outnumbered males nearly 2:1. Female and male leopard sharks were more nearly equal in size and sex ratio. Changes in species composition are likely due to fishing pressure, shifts in the prevailing oceanographic conditions, and habitat alteration in Elkhorn Slough. The sex ratios, stage of maturity, and size class distributions provide further evidence for the theory that Elkhorn Slough functions as a nursery habitat for bat rays and leopard sha

Nesting Success of Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles, Lepidochelys kempi, at Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 1982–2004

The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempi, was on the edge of extinction owing to a combination of intense egg harvesting and incidental capture in commercial fishing trawls. Results from a cooperative conservation strategy initiated in 1978 between Mexico and the United States to protect and restore the Kemp’s ridley turtle at the main nesting beach at Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas, Mexico are assessed. This strategy appears to be working as there are signs that the species is starting to make a recovery. Recovery indicators include: 1) increased numbers of nesting turtles, 2) increased numbers of 100+ turtle nesting aggregations (arribadas), 3) an expanding nesting season now extending from March to August, and 4) significant nighttime nesting since 2003. The population low point at Rancho Nuevo was in 1985 (706 nests) and the population began to significantly increase in 1997 (1,514 nests), growing to over 4,000 nests in 2004. The size and numbers of arribadas have increased each year since 1983 but have yet to exceed the 1,000+ mark; most arribadas are still 200–800+ turtles.