NOAA Issues Rule to Prevent Overfishing of Atlantic Sharks - Bye-Bye Browns...

[livetofishnj]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 19, 2008

*** NEWS FROM NOAA ***
NATIONAL OCEANIC & ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
WASHINGTON, DC

Contact: Monica Allen 301-713-2370

NOAA Issues Rule to Prevent Overfishing of Atlantic Sharks

NOAA’s Fisheries Service today announced a new rule to lower significantly the
fishing quotas for sandbar and porbeagle sharks in order to rebuild these depleted
species. NOAA will also implement new regional quotas for the other large coastal sharks.

The new shark regulations will take effect starting on July 24.
That latest stock assessment determined that the population of sandbar sharks was
depleted and the rate of fishing was too high. Sandbar sharks are prized for their fins,
and they are one of the most commercially valuable shark species caught in the Atlantic
Ocean. They make up the majority of current East and Gulf Coast commercial shark
landings.

“Our recent stock assessments show we need to take strong conservation measures to
stop overfishing on sandbar and other sharks to allow these species to rebuild,” said Jim
Balsiger, NOAA acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “These
sharks, like many sharks, mature late, grow slowly and produce few young, making them
particularly vulnerable to fishing pressure.”

The rule also requires all sharks to be offloaded at the dock with all of their
fins naturally attached. This regulation is designed to improve enforcement against shark
finning, where fishermen remove the highly valuable fins from sharks at sea and discard
the shark carcasses overboard. The regulation will also assist with identification of
shark species and improve species-specific data collection for future stock assessments.

In the new rule that will publish in the Federal Register on Tue., June 24, NOAA’s
Fisheries Service establishes a separate sandbar shark annual commercial quota of 87.9
metric tons. Sandbar sharks were previously part of the Large Coastal Shark Complex that
had an annual commercial quota of 1,017 metric tons. Sandbar sharks comprised an average
of 60 percent of the large coastal shark landings, an annual average of 594.4 metric tons.

The rule establishes regional quotas for the other large coastal sharks. These
quotas (non-sandbar shark Large Coastal Shark regional quotas) are 390.5 metric tons in
the Gulf of Mexico region and 187.8 metric tons in the Atlantic region. The rule also
reduces the annual commercial quota for porbeagle sharks from 92 metric tons to 1.7
metric tons per year.
Under this final rule, all fishing for sandbar sharks will take place as part of a
shark research fishery with approximately 10 commercial fishing vessels participating per
year. More details on the research fishery can be found in a separate Federal Register
notice that will also publish on Tuesday. NOAA’s Fisheries Service is now accepting
applications from commercial shark fishermen for the shark research fishery. Applications
are available on the Highly Migratory Species Management Division’s Web site,
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/. The objective of the research fishery is to gain more
information on shark life history, as well as to develop techniques to reduce bycatch,
and ensure sufficient data collection for future stock assessments.

The new rule prohibits recreational shark fishermen from landing sandbar or silky
sharks.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the
prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service
delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's
coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of
Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and
the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as
the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

[hubris 1]

if you want to kill a small mako. fine. you can eat it. but why would anyone want to kill a brown, a blue, or a thresher? only to fill the dumpster at the marina. it needs to be a release, if you want them to last.

[dman25]

Threshers are actually pretty tasty. Very similar to mako in texture and flavor. The funny thing is I've caught more sandbar sharks in the past two years than any other species. Usually 4-5 per trip.

[hubris 1]

Threshers are actually pretty tasty. Very similar to mako in texture and flavor. The funny thing is I've caught more sandbar sharks in the past two years than any other species. Usually 4-5 per trip.

yea, but would you kill em for no reason? thats what i think is wrong now, and gonna have to change.

[joeksr]

yea, but would you kill em for no reason? thats what i think is wrong now, and gonna have to change.

Killing anything for no reason is a waste.
Except maybe bugs, Open season on bugs.
But I'll take a mako or thresher for the grill.

[capt. jakeg]

Well if they are gonna close that, they oughta make the doggie fishery wide open. Them damn things have come through thick as locust plagues here in VB the last couple winters.

[hotshot1]

It's not open season on Dogfish?