Precious Corals in Hawaii: Discovery of a New Bed and Revised Management Measures for Existing Beds

The fishery for deepwater precious corals in the Hawaiian Islands has experienced an on-and-off history for almost 40 years. In spite of this, research, driven primarily by the precious coral jewelry industry, remains active. In this paper, the results of deepwater surveys in 2000 and 2001 are reported. In summary, a new bed on the summit of Cross Seamount is described and revised estimates of MSY’s for pink coral, Corallium secundum; red coral, Corallium regale; and gold coral, Ger ardia sp., in the two known beds off Makapuu, Oahu, and Keahole Point, Hawaii, in the main Hawaiian Islands, are presented. The population dynamics of each species is described, as well as their ecological limits on Hawaii’s deep reefs, island shelves, and seamounts. The local supply of precious coral in the main Hawaiian Islands is sufficient to support the local industry, but cost/ benefits of selective harvest requirements and weather constraints limit profitability of the fish

The Fisheries for Mangrove Cockles,Anadaraspp., from Mexico to Peru, With Descriptions of Their Habitats and Biology, the Fishermen’s Lives, and the Effects of Shrimp Farming

This paper provides the first description of the mangrove cockle, Anadara spp., fisheries throughout their Latin American range along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Peru. Two species, A. tuberculosa and A. grandis, are found over the entire range, while A. similis occurs from El Salvador to Peru. Anadara tuberculosa is by far the most abundant, while A. grandis has declined in abundance during recent decades. Anadara tuberculosa and A. similis occur in level mud sediments in mangrove swamps, comprised mostly of Rhizophora mangle, which line the main-lands and islands of lagoons, whereas A. grandis inhabits intertidal mud flats along the edges of the same mangrove swamps. All harvested cockles are sexually mature. Gametogenesis of the three species occurs year round, and juvenile cockles grow rap-idly. Cockle densities at sizes at least 16–42 mm long ranged from 7 to 24/m2 in Mexico. Macrofaunal associates of cockles include crustaceans, gastropods, and finfishes. The mangrove swamps are in nearly pristine condition in every country except Honduras, Ecuador, and Peru, where shrimp farms constructed in the 1980’s and 1990’s have destroyed some mangrove zones. In addition, Hurricane Mitch destroyed some Honduran mangrove swamps in 1998. About 15,000 fishermen, including men, women, and children, harvest the cockles. Ecuador has the largest tabulated number of fishermen, 5,055, while Peru has the fewest, 75. Colombia has a large number, perhaps exceeding that in Ecuador, but a detailed census of them has never been made. The fishermen are poor and live a meager existence; they do not earn sufficient money to purchase adequate food to allow their full health and growth potential. They travel almost daily from their villages to the harvesting areas in wooden canoes and fiberglass boats at low tide when they can walk into the mangrove swamps to harvest cockles for about 4 h. Harvest rates, which vary among countries owing to differences in cockle abundances, range from about 50 cockles/fisherman/day in El Salvador and Honduras to 500–1,000/ fisherman/day in Mexico. The fishermen return to their villages and sell the cockles to dealers, who sell them mainly whole to market outlets within their countries, but there is some exporting to adjacent countries. An important food in most countries, the cockles are eaten in seviche, raw on the half-shell, and cooked with rice. The cockles are under heavy harvesting pressure, except in Mexico, but stocks are not yet being depleted because they are harvested at sizes which have already spawned. Also some spawning stocks lie within dense mangrove stands which the fishermen cannot reach. Consumers fortunately desire the largest cockles, spurning the smallest. Cockles are important to the people, and efforts to reduce the harvests to prevent overfishing would lead to severe economic suffering in the fishing communities. Pro-grams to conserve and improve cockle habitats may be the most judicious actions to take. Preserving the mangrove swamps intact, increasing their sizes where possible, and controlling cockle predators would lead to an increase in cockle abundance and harvests. Fishes that prey on juvenile cockles might be seined along the edges of swamps before the tide rises and they swim into the swamps to feed. Transplanting mangrove seedlings to suitable areas might increase the size of those habitats. The numbers of fishermen may increase in the future, because most adults now have several children. If new fishermen are tempted to harvest small, immature cockles and stocks are not increased, minimum size rules for harvestable cockles could be implemented and enforced to ensure adequate spawning.

Distribution of Belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, in Cook Inlet, Alaska, During June/July 1993–2000

Aerial surveys of belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, in Cook Inlet wre flown each year during June and/or July from 1993 to 2000. This project was designed to delineate distribution and collect aerial counts, elements critical to the managment of this small, isolated stock that was subjected to a persistent harvest by Native hunters. The surveys provided a thorough, annual coverage of the coastal areas of the inlet (1,300 km of shoreline) and included roughly 1,000 km of offshore transects annually. Coastal transects were flown 1.4 km from the waterline, thus surveying most of the area within 3 km of shore. These, along with offshore transects, provided annual systematic searches of 13-33% of the entire inlet. The largest concentration of belugas (151-288 whales by aerial count) was in the northern portion of upper Cook Inlet in the Susitna River Delta and/or in Knik Arm. Another concentration (17-49 whales) was consistently found between Chickaloon River and Point Possession. Smaller groups (generally <20 whales) were occasionally found in Turn-again Arm, Kachemak Bay, Redoubt Bay (Big River), and Trading Bay (McArthur River) prior to 1995 but not thereafter. Over the past three decades, summer distribution has shrunk such that sightings now only rarely occur in lower Cook Inlet and in offshore areas. In the 1990's, most (96-100%) of the sightings were concentrated in a few dense groups in shallow areas near river mouths in upper Cook Inlet.

Beluga, Delphinapterus leucas, Distribution and Survey Effort in the Gulf of Alaska

Beluga, Delphinapterus leucas, distribution in the Gulf of Alaska and adjacent inside waters was examined through a review of surveys conducted as far back as 1936. Although beluga sightings have occurred on almost every marine mammal survey in northern Cook Inlet (over 20 surveys reported here), beluga sightings have been rare outside the inlet in the Gulf of Alaska. More than 150,000 km of dedicated survey effort in the Gulf of Alaska resulted in sightings of over 23,000 individual cetaceans, of which only 4 beluga sightings (5 individuals) occurred. In addition, nearly 100,000 individual cetaceans were reported in the Platforms of Opportunity database; yet, of these, only 5 sightings (39 individuals) were belugas. Furthermore, approximately 19 beluga sightings (>260 individuals), possibly including resightings, have been reported without information on effort or other cetacean sightings. Of the 28 sightings of belugas outside of Cook Inlet, 9 were near Kodiak Island, 10 were in or near Prince William Sound, 8 were in Yakutat Bay, and 1 anomalous sighting was well south of the Gulf. These sightings support archaeological and commercial harvest evidence indicating the only persistent group of belugas in the Gulf of Alaska occurs in Cook Inlet.

Biological Characteristics and Fishery Assessment of Alaska Plaice, Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus, in the Eastern Bering Sea

Alaska plaice, Pleuronectes quadrituberculatus, is one of the major flatfishes in the eastern Bering Sea ecosystem and is most highly concentrated in the shallow continental shelf of the eastern Bering Sea. Annual commercial catches have ranged from less than 1,000 metric tons (t) in 1963 to 62,000 t in 1988. Alaska plaice is a relatively large flatfish averaging about 32 cm in length and 390 g in weight in commercial catches. They are distributed from nearshore waters to a depth of about 100 m in the eastern Bering Sea during summer, but move to deeper continental shelf waters in winter to escape sea ice and cold water temperatures. Being a long-lived species (>30 years), they have a relatively low natural mortality rate estimated at 0.20. Maturing at about age 7, Alaska plaice spawn from April through June on hard sandy substrates of the shelf region, primarily around the 100 m isobath. Prey items primarily include polychaetes and other marine worms. In comparison with other flatfish, Alaska plaice and rock sole, Pleuronectes bilineatus, have similar diets but different habitat preferences with separate areas of peak population density which may minimize interspecific competition. Yellowfin sole, Pleuronectes asper, while sharing similar habitat, differs from these two species because of the variety of prey items in its diet. Competition for food resources among the three species appears to be low. The resource has experienced light exploitation since 1963 and is currently in good condition. Based on the results of demersal trawl surveys and age-structured analyses, the exploitable biomass increased from 1971 through the mid-1980’s before decreasing to the 1997 level of 500,000 t. The recommended 1998 harvest level, Allowable Biological Catch, was calculated from the Baranov catch equation based on the FMSY harvest level and the projected 1997 biomass, resulting in a commercial harvest of 69,000 t, or about 16% of the estimated exploitable biomass.

The Lobster and Shrimp Fisheries in Hawaii

A description of the lobster and deepwater shrimp fisheries in Hawaii, addressing harvest levels, biology, and research, is presented. Both fisheries are trap fisheries. The lobster fishery is a limited entry fishery with 1991 landings of 200 metric tons. The shrimp fishery is unregulated, with very sporadic effort, and annual landings below 200 metric tons.

Precious Coral Fisheries of Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Islands

The precious coral fishery in Hawaii and the Western Pacific consists of one industry but two distinct and separate fisheries. The first is the harvest of black coral by scuba divers from depths of 30-100 m. The second is a fishery for pink and gold coral at depths between 400 and 1500 m and employs either a human-operated submersible that permits selective harvest or tangle net dredges which are nonselective. The modern history of these fisheries date from 1958 until the present. In this paper the ecology, life history. and management of the dominant species that make up these fisheries are reviewed. Research needs of the fisheries and the economic and future prospects of the precious coral industry are also described. At the present, the precious coral jewelry industry in Hawaii (all species) is valued at about $25 million at the retail level.

Guam's Small-Boat-based Fisheries

Recent trends in Guam's small-boat fisheries and current knowledge of their biology, management, and economics are summarized. Annual estimates of participation, effort, and harvest are given for the pelagic and bottomfish fisheries for 1980-91 and for the spearfishing and atulai fisheries for 1985. The pelagic fishery is the largest, with annual landings ranging from 168 to 364 metric tons (t), followed by the bottomfish fishery (14-43 t), spearfishingf ishery (517 t), and bigeye scad fishery (3-20 t). All of the pelagic species are highly migratory and require regional management. They are heavily exploited by Guam-based domestic purse-seine and foreign longline fisheries, but region-wide catch and effort as well as the status of the stocks are largely unknown. Bottomfish and reef-fish stocks are shared to an unknown extent with those of the northern Marianas and are locally manageable. Certain vulnerable species of bottomfishes and reeffishes are overfished. Bottomfish and spearedfish landings are dominated by small species with high turnover rates.

Tuna Fisheries in the Federated States of Micronesia, 1979-90

The management of tuna fisheries in the Federated States of Micronesia since independence in 1979 is reviewed, noting the development, seasonality, and geographic range of the fisheries. The status of stocks, including trends in catch per unit effort and the approach to setting harvest levels for the major species, are also reviewed. Future developments and management aims are discussed.

Background Concepts for a Rotating Harvesting Strategy with Particular Reference to the Mediterranean Red Coral, Corallium rubrum

A simple cohort model was used as the basis for selecting the appropriate periodicity and number of separate unit areas in a rotating harvest scheme for a sedentary species, the red coral, Corallium rubrum, in the General Fisheries Management Council for the Mediterranean area. The rotation period in years, and hence the minimum number of unit areas involved, was determined on the basis of the time to maximum biomass by a simple calculation of the yield-per-recruit type, requiring a knowledge of natural mortality and growth rates. Other criteria may be more important, however, and in general for a long-lived species, will result in shorter rotation periods. These criteria may include economic factors, criteria based on the preferred size or quality of product, or criteria that take into account the cumulative risk of illegal fishing of closed areas with time, hence the growing cost of enforcement as harvestable product accumulates. For red coral, although maximum biomass is predicted to be reached after some 15-44 years, the above considerations suggest that a rotation period ofsome 9-15 years would be close to optimal, taking into account a range ofthe above considerations. This article discusses the relative merits of rotating harvest schemes in contrast to quota management for sedentary and semi-sedentary resources or geographically isolated substocks ofa mobile resource, and concludes that this approach may have considerable potential as an alternative approach to resource management.

Yellowfin Sole, Pleuronectes asper, of the Eastern Bering Sea: Biological Characteristics, History of Exploitation, and Management

Yellowfin sole, Pleuronectes asper, is the second most abundant flatfish in the North Pacific Ocean and is most highly concentrated in the eastern Bering Sea. It has been a target species in the eastern Bering Sea since the mid-1950's, initially by foreign distant-water fisheries but more recently by U.S. fisheries. Annual commercial catches since 1959 have ranged from 42,000 to 554,000 metric tons (t). Yellowfin sole is a relatively small flatfish averaging about 26 cm in length and 200 g in weight in commercial catches. It is distributed from nearshore waters to depths of about 100 m in the eastern Bering Sea in summer, but moves to deeper water in winter to escape sea ice. Yellowfin sole is a benthopelagic feeder. It is a longlived species (>20 years) with a correspondingly low natural mortality rate estimated at 0.12. After being overexploited during the early years of the fishery and suffering a substantial decline in stock abundance, the resource has recovered and is currently in excellent condition. The biomass during the 1980's may have been as high as, if not higher than, that at the beginning of the fishery. Based on results of demersal trawl surveys and two age structured models, the current exploitable biomass has been estimated to range between 1.9 and 2.6 million t. Appropriate harvest strategies were investigated under a range of possible recruitment levels. The recommended harvest level was calculated by multiplying the yield derived from the FOI harvest level (161 g at F = 0.14) hy an average recruitment value resulting in a commercial harvest of 276,900 t, or about 14% of the estimated exploitable biomass.

Potential Impact of PCB's on Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, Management

Since 1979, anglers along the U.S. Atlantic coast have landed by weight more bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, than any other marine species. A fishery management plan has been developed jointly by three fishery management councils and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to preserve the bluefish resource. Major objectives of the plan include prevention of recruitment overfishing and reduction in waste of bluefish. In 1985, a Federal survey found PCB concentrations in larger bluefish (over 500 mm fork length) that exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tolerance level of 2 parts per million. Harvest strategies are presented in this article to protect the reproductive capability of bluefish while minimizing human health risks associated with dietary intake of PCB's.

The Atlantic and Gulf Menhaden Purse Seine Fisheries: Origins, Harvesting Technologies, Biostatistical Monitoring, Recent Trends in Fisheries Statistics, and Forecasting

With its genesis in New England during the 1800's, the purse seine fishery for Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, expanded south and by the early 1900's ranged the length of the eastern seaboard. The purse seine fishery for Gulf menhaden. B. patronus, is of relatively recent development, exploitation of the stock beginning in the late 1940's. Landings from both fisheries annually comprise 35-40% of the total U. S. fisheries landings, ranking menhaden first in terms of volume landed. Technological advances in harvesting methods, fish-spotting capabilities, and vessel designs accelerated after World War II, resulting in larger, faster, and wider-ranging carrier vessels, improved speed and efficiency of the harvest, and reduction in labor requirements. Chief products of the menhaden industry are fish meal, fish oil, and solubles, but research into new product lines is underway. Since 1955 on the Atlantic coast and 1964 on the Gulf coast, the NMFS has monitored the fisheries for biostatistical data. Annual data summaries of numbers-of-fish-at-age harvested, catch tonnage, and fishing effort of the fleet form the basis of routine stock assessments and annual catch forecasts to industry for the upcoming fishing season. After landings declined in the 1960's, the Atlantic menhaden stock has recovered through the 1970's and 1980's. Exceptional year classes of Gulf menhaden in recent years account for record landings during the 1980's.

Competing for the Recreational Dollar: An Analysis of the California Commercial Passenger-Carrying Fishing Vessel Industry

California has a large and diverse marine recreational fishery. Anglers on commercial passenger-carrying fishing vessels (CPFV's) harvest a substantial proportion of California's marine recreational fisheries landings, accounting for about 40 percent and 16 percent of the total 1986 marine recreational catch in southern and northern California, respectively (NMFS, 1987). In 1986, 459,369 CPFV anglers landed some 2,835,021 fish in southern California, while 200,925 CPFV anglers landed 1,240, 100 fish in central and northern California.

U.S. Fisheries Management and Foreign Trade Linkages: Policy Implications for Groundfish Fisheries in the North Pacific EEZ

The groundfish resources of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Alaska, dominated by Alaska or walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus, and flatfishes, Pleuronectidae, can sustain annual commercial harvests well in excess of 2 million metric tons (t). As recently as 1979, foreign fisheries took 99 percent of the annual harvest supported by these resources. This has changed dramatically during the 1980's. The foreign fisheries have received rapidly decreasing allocations, first as joint venture fisheries expanded and, more recently, as the domestic fisheries have grown. Joint venture fisheries are fisheries in which domestic fishing vessels deliver their catch directly to foreign processing vessels in the EEZ. By 1986, the joint venture and domestic fisheries accounted for 66 percent and 8 percent, respectively, of the annual harvest. The preliminary corresponding figures for 1987 are 78 and 18 percent.