Beyond Our Shores Foundation Dolphinfish Research Program
PO BOX 3506 Newport, RI, 02840 (787) 436-8300 wess@beyondourshores.org dolphintagging.com / beyondourshores.org
April 14, 2023 Caribbean Fishery Management Council San Juan, Puerto Rico Dear Mr. Miguel Rolon and Council Members: As you move toward your upcoming council meeting that includes further consideration of amendments to your Island-Based Fisheries Management Plans, and in particular the management of dolphin within Amendment 3 for the St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John Fishery Management Plans, we would like to offer some perspective on dolphin management within the Western Central Atlantic Ocean (WCA). As you are aware and as evidenced by the composition of the proposed amendment, the dolphin stock in the WCA appears to be declining and needs significant and timely strengthening of management actions. The following are several examples of supporting information. The recent addition of 2022 U.S. landings data extended the downward trend that has been in place for the past 30 years (Figure 1). Figure 1 depicts U.S. east coast dolphin landings since 1989 based on the National Marine Fisheries Service Marine Recreational Information Program and Commercial Fisheries Statistics. Unfortunately, changes to U.S. Atlantic management in response to strong evidence of the decline in the stock and the need for an immediate strengthening of conservation efforts has been slow and lack the strength to have any meaningful impact. For example, the recently finalized Amendment 10 of the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council’s (SAFMC) Dolphin Wahoo Fisheries Management Plan took five years to complete and did not contain meaningful management improvement with only a 60 to 54 vessel limit reduction and no change to the bag limit or minimum length. As Amendment 10 was being completed some SAFMC members realized it did not sufficiently address needed management strengthening and, therefore, a new amendment, Regulatory Amendment 3 (RA3) to the Dolphin Wahoo Fisheries Management Plan, was started in June 2021. At the June 2022 SAFMC meeting the potentially beneficial concept of Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) was introduced as a methodology for developing management actions for the dolphin fishery. MSE is emerging as an approach to identify the most effective measures for managing a resource, dolphin being a prime example, that has numerous factors impacting it and, likewise, numerous options for minimizing negative impacts and/or preventing decline. As a part of the MSE presentation an optimistic timeline for a dolphin MSE project was included. During discussion it was recognized that Council staff resources were not sufficient to move forward in the near-term with both an MSE project and RA3. The MSE project was identified as the priority for the Council’s workplan at that time with a return to work on RA3 planned for the December 2022 Council meeting.
Beyond Our Shores Foundation Dolphinfish Research Program PO BOX 3506 Newport, RI, 02840 beyondourshores.org and dolphintagging.com