MakoMike
Angler
My comments:
This is in response to your solicitation for comments on the inclusion of conservational equivalency as an option in the Mid-Atlantic fishery management council’s options for managing the black sea bass fishery. While these comments are in response for your solicitation regarding the black sea bass fishery they would equally apply to the use of conservational equivalency in the summer flounder and scup fisheries.
I am an advisor to the New England fishery management council on their recreational advisory panel and an advisor to the Mid-Atlantic fishery management council as well as the ASMFC for summer flounder, black sea bass and scup.
I believe that conservational equivalency should only be an alternative to coastwide regulations when the Marine Recreational Information program generates data that can be reliably used to manage the state by state or regional data. Recent history has shown that in many cases conservational equivalency has been used when the required data does not meet the Magnesson-Stevens act requirement of being the “best available science.” In fact, some of the data being used by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to manage conservational equivalency is show by the “best available science” to be more likely wrong than right.
I am referring to the state by state data, or regional data produced by the Marine Recreational Information Program which carries a Percent Standard Error of over 50%. As you know, the Percent Standard Error (PSE) is a measure of the precision of the MRIP estimate, and any value over 50% indicates that the data is more likely incorrect than it is correct.
While not the subject of your request for comments a quintessential example of this can be found in the 2017 scup fishery. The following table is a summary of the state by state catch estimates for 2017 scup fishery:
The ASMFC manages scup based on regions and it also does the same, with the same regions as black sea bass. However, in 2017, the entire southern region of the ASMFC’s scup management plan had a PSE of well over 50%. This would indicate that, if conservational equivalency was used to manage the scup fishery for 2017, contrary to the requirements of the Magnesson-Stevens act, the fishery would have been managed based on data that was most likely wrong.
There are similar, but less egregious examples in the data for all three species, i.e. summer flounder, black sea bass and scup. For example, see the 2018 MRIP estimate for summer flounder in the state of Maryland, which had a PSE of 51.4%. Yet the Mid-Atlantic council voted for conservational equivalency for the 2018 fishing year, based on data which was most likely incorrect.
While a similar situation has not arisen in the black seabass fishery yet, there is absolutely nothing to prevent it happening in that fishery.
I believe that it is against the Magnesson-Stevens Act’s explicit and implicit requirements that council actions should be based on the “best available science.” If the council votes to adopt conservational equivalency when the data required to implement a conservational equivalent program is, by the MRIP’s own terms, more likely wrong than right, then they have violated the Act’s direction that council actions be based on the “best available science”. The council should not have the option to turn over the management of any species when the MRIP data for any state has an accompanying PSE of over 50%. If conservational equivalency is to be adopted on a regional basis, then it should only be allowed if MRIP produces data for the region that has a PSE of less than 50%.
As always, if you wish to discuss these comments further I would be more than happy to do so. GARFO, the NEFMC, the MAFMC and the ASMFC all have my phone number. I have also attached an Excel spreadsheet with the results of my MRIP database queries for all three species for your convenience.
I support the idea of making the current Block Island Transit Zone for striped bass a safe haven for state only registered fishing vessels transiting with any species on board that were caught in Rhode Island State waters and the vessel is returning non-stop to state waters.
This is in response to your solicitation for comments on the inclusion of conservational equivalency as an option in the Mid-Atlantic fishery management council’s options for managing the black sea bass fishery. While these comments are in response for your solicitation regarding the black sea bass fishery they would equally apply to the use of conservational equivalency in the summer flounder and scup fisheries.
I am an advisor to the New England fishery management council on their recreational advisory panel and an advisor to the Mid-Atlantic fishery management council as well as the ASMFC for summer flounder, black sea bass and scup.
I believe that conservational equivalency should only be an alternative to coastwide regulations when the Marine Recreational Information program generates data that can be reliably used to manage the state by state or regional data. Recent history has shown that in many cases conservational equivalency has been used when the required data does not meet the Magnesson-Stevens act requirement of being the “best available science.” In fact, some of the data being used by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to manage conservational equivalency is show by the “best available science” to be more likely wrong than right.
I am referring to the state by state data, or regional data produced by the Marine Recreational Information Program which carries a Percent Standard Error of over 50%. As you know, the Percent Standard Error (PSE) is a measure of the precision of the MRIP estimate, and any value over 50% indicates that the data is more likely incorrect than it is correct.
While not the subject of your request for comments a quintessential example of this can be found in the 2017 scup fishery. The following table is a summary of the state by state catch estimates for 2017 scup fishery:
| 2017: | |||||
| Estimate status | Year | State | Species | Total Catch | PSE |
| Final | 2017 | Connecticut | Scup | 6,344,008 | 28.1 |
| Final | 2017 | Delaware | Scup | 287 | 59.1 |
| Final | 2017 | Maryland | Scup | 331 | 85.1 |
| Final | 2017 | Massachusetts | Scup | 5,565,309 | 17.2 |
| Final | 2017 | Newhampshire | Scup | 1,893 | 40.1 |
| Final | 2017 | New Jersey | Scup | 4,230,871 | 50.5 |
2017 | New York | Scup | 21,803,501 | 19.7 | |
| Final | 2017 | North Carolina | Scup | 359 | 79.2 |
| | ||||
| | ||||
| Final | 2017 | Rhode Island | Scup | 3,247,863 | 19.1 |
| Final | 2017 | South Carolina | Scup | 4,411 | 100.2 |
| Final | 2017 | Virginia | Scup | 2,024 | 103 |
The ASMFC manages scup based on regions and it also does the same, with the same regions as black sea bass. However, in 2017, the entire southern region of the ASMFC’s scup management plan had a PSE of well over 50%. This would indicate that, if conservational equivalency was used to manage the scup fishery for 2017, contrary to the requirements of the Magnesson-Stevens act, the fishery would have been managed based on data that was most likely wrong.
There are similar, but less egregious examples in the data for all three species, i.e. summer flounder, black sea bass and scup. For example, see the 2018 MRIP estimate for summer flounder in the state of Maryland, which had a PSE of 51.4%. Yet the Mid-Atlantic council voted for conservational equivalency for the 2018 fishing year, based on data which was most likely incorrect.
While a similar situation has not arisen in the black seabass fishery yet, there is absolutely nothing to prevent it happening in that fishery.
I believe that it is against the Magnesson-Stevens Act’s explicit and implicit requirements that council actions should be based on the “best available science.” If the council votes to adopt conservational equivalency when the data required to implement a conservational equivalent program is, by the MRIP’s own terms, more likely wrong than right, then they have violated the Act’s direction that council actions be based on the “best available science”. The council should not have the option to turn over the management of any species when the MRIP data for any state has an accompanying PSE of over 50%. If conservational equivalency is to be adopted on a regional basis, then it should only be allowed if MRIP produces data for the region that has a PSE of less than 50%.
As always, if you wish to discuss these comments further I would be more than happy to do so. GARFO, the NEFMC, the MAFMC and the ASMFC all have my phone number. I have also attached an Excel spreadsheet with the results of my MRIP database queries for all three species for your convenience.
I support the idea of making the current Block Island Transit Zone for striped bass a safe haven for state only registered fishing vessels transiting with any species on board that were caught in Rhode Island State waters and the vessel is returning non-stop to state waters.
