Federal fishery management officials have voted to set 2014 catch levels of Pacific sardine off the US West Coast at 33% below what they would have been under the existing management regime.
This follows a new assessment of Pacific sardine released at the end of October, which shows that the species is at its lowest biomass in 20 years and has declined by almost 979,000 tons since 2007, while the fishery removed 1,035,000 tons over the same period. The assessment also showed that 2012 catch levels exceeded maximum sustainable yield signalling that overfishing occurred, and that the population is projected to continue this downward trend.
“It’s clear the Pacific sardine population is in the midst of a crash. While the decision is a step in the right direction, there shouldn’t be any fishing on sardine right now,” said Ben Enticknap, Pacific campaign manager for Oceana.
Oceana reports that the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) was split on its decision to lower 2014 sardine catch levels, but ultimately voted 7-6 in favour of doing so at the beginning of November.
“We commend the Council for beginning to heed the warning signs of a crashing sardine stock, but today’s decision may ultimately be too little, too late,” said Dr Geoff Shester, California program director for Oceana. “We hope the Council takes further steps in the right direction to fix the underlying problems with sardine management.”
