A new report commissioned by the Maine Conservation Alliance urges continued research of global climate change to sustain Alaska's claim as a model of sustainable fishery management.
“Conserving Alaska's Oceans,” written by Brad Warren of Seattle-based Natural Resource Consultants, urges broader ecosystem management and adapting fishery management to respond to effects of climate change.
Among the report's recommendations are expanded efforts to identify, prevent and manage potential declines in non-targeted fish and wildlife species that interact with fisheries.
Dave Benton, executive director of MCA, said his organization accepted the recommendations as the next necessary steps toward furthering stewardship of marine resources in the North Pacific. “Alaska has prided itself for being proactive and adaptive in its fishery management, and these recommendations will maintain our leadership in sustainable fishery management,” said Benton, former chairman of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
MCA, based in Juneau, is a nonprofit organization of Alaska and Pacific Northwest fish processors, residents, communities, fishermen, vessel owners and crew, among others, including Alaska Community Development Quota organizations involved in groundfish fisheries.
“Alaska's seas provide more than half of the U.S. seafood catch, annually yielding harvests that exceed 5 billion pounds of fish and shellfish, and collectively constitute one of the world's most prolific marine ecosystems,” Warren said.
But at a time of justifiable anxiety about overfishing worldwide and concerns about the impact of climate change, it's legitimate to ask whether fishing is tipping the balance of ecosystems of the North Pacific, he said.
Warren said scientists have concluded that, so far, the food web off Alaska's shores is far from being “fished down,” but he cautioned against complacency. “Our place at the feast is not guaranteed,” he said. “We can wear out our welcome if we overindulge, as fisheries in many parts of the world have sadly demonstrated.”
The 45-page report looks at fishery management practices, measures to protect habitat and reduce bycatch, and trends in the status of major fish stocks. Most of those groundfish stocks show substantial increases since passage of the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, the federal law that manages the nation's marine fisheries, and none are currently listed as overfished, Warren said.
According to Warren, the Alaska model of science-based fishery management is “as good as it gets anywhere in the world,” but he recommends the broader goals of ecosystem-based fishery management, a direction which environmental activists have been advocating for years.
Warren said a better understanding is needed of the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems. He called for a survey of abundance of plankton and forage fish, and safeguarding open channels of communication between fishery managers and their scientific advisors.
“Effects of a warming climate are now evident in the Bering Sea and elsewhere in Alaska, changing the distribution, abundance and behavior of important commercial species,” Warren said. “These changes, which are well documented, will present serious challenges and altered opportunities for fisheries and many species that inhabit the region.”
Copies of the report and a companion chart are available from MCA at (907) 523-0731 or via e-mail at adminmca@ak.net.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
