|
Information on NCMC's conservation efforts
for sailfish, marlin, swordfish, tuna, and sharks
BRING BACK THE BIG FISH!
Program Overview
THE PROBLEM
By removing so many of the sea's top predators, we are weakening
an entire tier at the top of the food chain. Populations of
these magnificent fish are at record lows in the Atlantic and Gulf
of Mexico -- some severely depleted. The goal of NCMC's "Bring
Back the Big Fish" program is to restore populations of big
fish (also known as "large pelagic" or "highly migratory"
fish) including swordfish, sailfish, marlin, tuna, and sharks. The
reasons these fish are in trouble are 3-fold:
- "overfishing," or removing these fish at rates faster
than they can reproduce
- indiscriminate and wasteful fishing practices, mainly longline
fishing gear. Many fish populations are being decimated
by "bycatch" or "bykill," meaning being caught
by accident in fishing operations for another species of fish
- ineffective management both in the US and internationally
SOLUTIONS FOR THE ATLANTIC AND GULF OF MEXICO (Click
here for Pacific)
Our plans for 2005 include continuing conservation efforts
in the US as well as promoting stronger international conservation
measures, especially for billfish. Specifically, NCMC plans
to:
1. Push for a transition to more sustainable fishing for
swordfish.
Specific goals include moving more of the commercial swordfish quota
from the longline fishery to the selective handgear (harpoon) fishery.
In addition, replacing the recreational swordfish bag limit
with a higher minimum size limit (~100 lbs.) to allow expansion
of the rod-and-reel fishery while protecting the growing juvenile
population.
2. Gain greater protection for coastal
and pelagic sharks.
We're working toward a prohibition on drift netting for sharks in
the southeast (where fishing with this indiscriminate gear is still
permitted) and a reduction in the commercial
quota for porbeagle to zero to protect this species recently proposed
as "endangered" by international scientists.
3. Enhance blue and white marlin
conservation in U.S. waters.
Specific goals include a public and private partnership in education
programs to increase the use
of circle hooks in the recreational billfish fishery and
modify existing longline time-area closures to improve bycatch reduction
for the most overfished billfish species - white marlin, e.g., a
seasonal closure in the Mid-Atlantic region (Baltimore Canyon).
See
map for details.
4. Monitor longline time and area closures
off the U.S. southeast coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.
NCMC was instrumental in obtaining these closures in 2001. The
existing closures are resulting in some notable decreases in sailfish,
large coastal shark, and juvenile
swordfish bycatch. The longliners have
since made attempts to gain access to the closed areas, and NCMC
is working hard to keep the closures effective and in place.
See map for
details.
5. Gain greater international protection for blue
and white marlin on the high seas.
Specifically, we'd like to see implemented seasonal closures to
longlining in billfish bycatch "hot spots" on the high
seas. The International Committee for Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
and Tuna-Like Fishes (ICCAT) is scheduled to re-assess the status
of blue marlin and white marlin in the fall of 2005, and revise
its management program accordingly at the November 2005 meeting.
Learn more about how
we're protecting big fish in the Pacific.
WHO WE ARE
The National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC) was founded
by conservation-minded anglers over 30 years ago to protect the
future of fish and fishing. Saving the big fish has always
been one of NCMC's biggest programs, thus the swordfish in our logo.
We've been a major player in the effort to bring back big
fish in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico since the 1970s. And,
we are now one of very few conservation organizations in the US
working to protect the Atlantic's big fish.
- Along with our allies we persuaded Congress
to outlaw the widespread practice of "shark finning,"
or killing sharks for their fins, ensuring that these threatened
predators will be safe in US waters.
- We successfully obtained longline time and
area closures off the U.S. southeast coast and in the Gulf of
Mexico. These closures are already reducing the bycatch
of juvenile swordfish, sailfish, and large coastal sharks.
See map for
details.
- NCMC currently serves on NOAA Fisheries' Billfish Advisory Panel,
and on the US delegation to ICCAT.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SWORDFISH, SHARKS AND OTHER BIG FISH NEED
YOUR HELP -- Click on the banner below to donate any amount
with your credit card!
Get more background
on big fish issues
Read the LATEST BIG FISH NEWS:
Learn more about how we're protecting
big fish in the Pacific.
©
1999-2008 National Coalition for Marine Conservation
4 Royal St. SE, Leesburg, VA 20175 USA
All Rights Reserved
|
