U.S. fisheries management is a model for international success, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which delivered the State of the Fisheries address at Seafood Expo North America (SENA) on Monday in Boston.
Eileen Sobeck, assistant administrator for fisheries at NOAA, said that domestic fisheries are on a continual upward trend of rebuilding and “effectively ending” overfishing. The agency is now more able to look at big-picture challenges, such as ecosystem-based issues and how to combat climate change and how it impacts fisheries.
“This success did not occur overnight,” she said. “It was the result of quite a bit of pain to industry due to our regulatory system” and the investment of millions of dollars in rebuilding efforts.
Those efforts have paid off, she added. NOAA has identified that 17 percent of domestic fisheries are overfished, and that 37 fishery stocks have been completely rebuilt after years of overfishing, since 2000.
Annual U.S. fisheries landings are nearing 10 billion pounds, and the impact of fisheries on the economy has “never been greater,” she said. “I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that commercial and recreational fishing generated USD 141 billion in sales and supported 1.3 million jobs. It’s a reminder of why NOAA is in the Department of Commerce.”
Sobeck touched upon several other issues at the address, including illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud, which was the hot topic at SENA on Sunday, when three federal agencies, industry and environmental NGOs sat on a panel discussion the day the U.S. government released its action plan to combat IUU and fraud.
“There’s no debate that globally IUU is a problem and that fraud rears its head in many ways,” Sobeck said. “It does undermine our legitimate sustainable domestic industry and puts our resources at risk.”
Sobeck also mentioned the growing importance and economic impact of aquaculture, which she described as a “positive component of our economic picture.”
“[Aquaculture] production is small compared to its potential; it’s roughly equal to 20 percent of U.S. seafood production. That’s pretty significant. It’s clear that aquaculture can and should play a larger role. There’s no place for it to go but up,” she said.
Sobeck also stated that NOAA does not have a “real timetable” for the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, but said that major revisions aren’t necessary. “The current act is working quite well,” she said.
Lastly, when asked about the potential for a NOAA eco-label, or stamp for sustainable seafood products from domestic fisheries, Sobeck said it was an idea that’s “in the hopper” but had no significant progress to report. “We have talked about ways to go out more aggressively and get the message out that US fisheries are sustainable.”
