Petition to Protect River Herring and American Shad from Ocean Bycatch
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission ordered all river herring (blueback herring and alewife) fisheries to close by 2012 and all American shad fisheries to close by 2013 unless states can prove the fisheries would be sustainable. Despite inland habitat restoration work and severe restrictions on directed fishing, river herring and American shad populations remain at historic lows. The impacts of depleted river herring and shad runs extend well beyond the severe social and economic impacts to our coastal communities. River herring and shad are essential to the coastal forage fish base that supports a wealth of predators like striped bass, bluefish, ospreys and dolphins.
At-sea bycatch in ocean trawl fisheries is believed to be a major source of river herring and shad mortality. Though they spawn in river systems, river herring and shad spend the majority of their lives at sea migrating up and down the coast between feeding grounds, where they mingle at times with schools of other small pelagic fish like sea herring and mackerel. Trawl fisheries targeting squid, mackerel and herring have been responsible for large percentages of at-sea discards of blueback herring and “unknown herring,” a classification that is used when shad and herring cannot be identified to the species level. Yet ocean bycatch continues to be poorly monitored and regulated by federal fishery managers in U.S. waters beyond three nautical miles from shore.
Minimizing at-sea bycatch of shad and river herring is urgently needed in conjunction with in-river habitat restoration. The federal Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has initiated a process to address at-sea bycatch in the squid and mackerel trawl fisheries through Amendment 14 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan, and the Council is currently seeking input from the public. Without public support, measures to address river herring and shad bycatch could be dropped from the amendment entirely.
Tell federal fisheries managers that addressing at-sea bycatch of river herring and shad is critically important to sustaining the health of our valued gamefish and other wildlife in the coastal ecosystems of the Atlantic seaboard.
We, the undersigned, urge the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to afford adequate protection to river herring and American shad at sea through Amendment 14 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan. We believe ocean bycatch is impeding state and local community efforts to restore our shad and river herring runs and to sustain our fisheries. Amendment 14 should include the following actions: 1) high levels of at-sea catch monitoring in the mackerel and squid fisheries; 2) enforceable bycatch limits; and, 3) bycatch-triggered trawl fishing area closures that protect offshore habitat where river herring and shad are known to congregate.