April 25, 2016 — In February, Dr. Geoff Shester, California campaign director for the environmental group Oceana, blamed the Pacific Fishery Management Council for low populations of sardines and recent sea lion deaths. In April, the PFMC closed the West Coast sardine fishery for a second straight year. Two recent op-eds explain why the sardine closure was unnecessary, and how Dr. Shester has incorrectly attributed the decline in sardines to fisheries instead of oceanographic conditions.
An op-ed by D.B. Pleschner, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, appeared in the Monterey Herald Saturday. An op-ed by Dr. Ray Hilborn, a renowned fishery scientist at the University of Washington, appeared in the May issue of National Fisherman. Excerpts from the two articles are provided below:
Sardines not collapsing, may be in recovery
By D.B. Pleschner
By all appearances the sardine population is likely on the upswing — not still tanking as many environmentalists and media reports are claiming.
But despite this evidence of recovery, Oceana’s Geoff Shester continues to argue for even stricter management measures. He accuses the fishery of overfishing sardines, and alleges that overfishing is the primary cause of recent sea lion and seabird mortality. Responding to similar claims that Oceana made in a recent Seattle Times article, internationally acclaimed fishery scientist from the University of Washington Dr. Ray Hilborn said, “Dr. Shester’s comments are some of the most dishonest commentary I have seen in the fisheries world … he simply continues to ignore science and pursue his own agenda.”
Despite what Oceana and other environmental groups claim, the reality is that sardine harvest control rule is very precautionary — perhaps the best example of ecosystem-based management in the world. Sardine harvest policy allocates more than 75 percent of the biomass for forage needs, as it has since the fishery returned in the 1980s.
The lack of flexibility in management policies to adapt to the reality observed in the ocean, especially during assessment “update” years, is a recipe for disaster — and the impact is already being felt by California’s historic wetfish industry. This industry normally produces 80 percent or more of the volume of seafood landed commercially statewide, representing as much as 40 percent of total dockside value. Closure has serious repercussions for California’s fishing economy.”
Read the full opinion piece at the Monterey Herald
Sardine Stories
By Dr. Ray Hilborn
Shester knows the NOAA scientists and Professor Tim Essington, in work funded by the Pew Foundation, have stated clearly that the decline in sardine abundance is due to natural causes. He also knows that sea lions are not dependent upon sardines; the die-off of sea lions is caused by the oceanographic conditions — not the result of fishing. In fact, reproductive failures of sea lions have occurred repeatedly in the past at times of high sardine abundance.
If he has read Essington’s paper (“Fishing amplifies forage fish population collapses”) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he would also know that there is no relationship between fishing and the duration of periods of low abundance of sardines and other forage fish.
The harvest rule for sardines is highly precautionary, even when sardines are at high abundance, the harvest rate is low. Indeed the harvest control rule for sardines matches very well the recommended harvest rule for forage fish that emerged from the Lenfest report — that is a low target harvest rate at high abundance with the fishery closed when the stock reaches low abundance.
Members of the Science and Statistical Committee of the Pacific Fishery Management Council have explained all this to Shester before. He simply continues to ignore science and pursue his own agenda.