FISH TRAP BAN
GULF OF MEXICO
| REEFKEEPER GOAL: | To ban the use of wire-mesh fish traps in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico |
| WHY: | To stop indiscriminate killing of tropicals and juvenile food reef fish in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. |
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TO SUPPORT REEFKEEPER'S POSITION:
| CONTACT: | Wayne Swingle, Executive Director |
| AGENCY: | Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council |
| ADDRESS: | 5401 W. Kennedy Blvd. - Suite 881 Tampa, FL 33609 |
| FAX: | |
| E-MAIL: |
FISH TRAP BAN
GULF OF MEXICO
In Depth
ReefKeeper International and 22 other organizations endorsing ReefKeeper's position are gravely concerned over the ongoing mortality of Gulf of Mexico juvenile reef fish, degradation of habitat, and tropical fish bycatch mortality due to the use of wire-mesh fish traps. To eliminate these impacts, since 1993 we have repeatedly formally requested that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (GMFMC) adopt an amendment to its Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan establishing a prohibition on fishing with fish traps in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Problem With Fish Traps
The problem with fish traps is the mortality of juvenile snappers and groupers caused by the inability of those juvenile fish to escape from traps with 1-inch-by-2-inch mesh.
The problem with fish traps is the wasteful killing of angelfish, butterflyfish, and many other tropicals which can comprise up to 54% of the fish caught in traps.
The problem with fish traps is the impossibility of enforcing current escape gap, mesh size, and even trap number regulations because fish traps are not buoyed, are hidden where compliance can't ever be verified, and never have to be returned to the dock for inspection.
We are not advocating that anyone be thrown out of the reef fish fishery. We are asking that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council do away with a type of gear that is indiscriminate in its catches, kills undersize juvenile snappers and groupers, and destroys bottom habitat.
Most fishermen in this fishery already use gear other than fish traps. Fish trappers can also shift to other gear and remain in this fishery -- or shift entirely to another fishery of their choice. By enacting a fish trap ban that becomes effective 18 months after it is approved, fish trappers would be provided enough time through normal trap attrition due to loss and normal wear to recapture their capital instead of reinvesting it in new traps -- and make that shift.
The use of wire-mesh fish traps, as permitted under the Council's 1981 Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan, is incompatible with the maintenance of biological diversity and spawning stock biomass for reef fish communities. Trap retrieval methods also result in the unavoidable and recurring destruction of habitat.
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) banned fish traps in 1991, recognizing that fish traps are detrimental to reef fish and their habitat. It is time for the Gulf Council to follow suit.
Fish Traps Are Non-Selective
The species composition of fish trap catches is a key factor at the heart of opposition to the continued use of fish traps in the Gulf reef fish fishery. All the fish trap catch surveys performed by scientific organizations reveal a significant degree of fish trap species non-selectivity.
In 1989, the GMFMC's Draft Amendment 1 to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan proposed to "extend the prohibition on directed harvest of reef fish with fish traps to the entire EEZ ... because of concern that fish traps result in wastage of reef fish through ghost fishing and cryptic mortality between trap hauls... (and) that fish traps capture nontarget species and juvenile target species." (GMFMC, 1989 -- option 11.2.1)
These concerns were voiced by the Gulf Council in 1989 and since that time nothing has occurred to keep the Council from having the same concerns today.
The South Atlantic Council, in Amendment 4 to its Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan, concluded "that traps are non-selective by size and by species...and the continued use of such highly efficient gear in a stressed fishery is no longer biologically tolerable." The same applies to the Gulf.
Traps unnecessarily kill an abundance of tropical fish, which enter traps routinely.
Fishery biologists from the Florida Bureau of Marine Research systematically surveyed the catches of 1,694 fish trap hauls while under actual operating conditions on-board commercial fishing boats. One-hundred-eleven reef fish species were identified among the trapped fish, even though less than 10 species accounted for 50% of the total catch. Fifty-four percent of the 13,337 fish caught in fish traps were tropicals and other non-food species. (Taylor and McMichael, 1983)
In a parallel study conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service, comparable results were obtained. In that study, one-hundred-and-four differenct reef fish species were found in the traps. Of the 5984 individual fish trapped, 38% were tropicals and other non-food species. (Sutherland and Harper, 1983)
Overall, these two studies found that 49% of 19,321 trapped fish were non-target tropicals.
Of the tropical fish found in fish traps, 17% were angelfish, 9% were trunkfish, 7% were surgeonfish, and 5% to 6% each were butterfly fish, parrotfish and wrasses. (Taylor and McMichael, 1983)
Fish Traps Remove Juveniles from the Fishery
Research by the URI International Center for Marine Resources Development found that with a maximum diagonal mesh aperture of 5.1 cm (2 inches) -- almost exactly the 5.6 cm (2.2 inches) maximum diagonal aperture of currently permitted fish traps in the Gulf -- the mean weight per trapped fish was just .25 kg (8.8 ounces). (Stevenson and Stuart-Sharkey, 1980)
This research proves that fish traps of the mesh size presently used in federal Gulf waters catch fish averaging less than one pound, with half of all trapped fish actually being even smaller. And that may seriously impact juvenile fish numbers and prevent the replenishment of reef fish communities, which are sedentary and relatively isolated.
Fish Traps Should Be Prohibited
When the SAFMC prohibited the use of fish traps in the South Atlantic, it recognized that "uniform regulations in both the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic waters should be established in order to facilitate enforcement and understanding by all concerned." We agree with this assessment.
Currently, there are 12,000 permitted fish traps in the Gulf. The use of these wire-mesh fish traps degrades both the Gulf reef fish fishery and the habitat which the fish depend on. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council should follow the lead of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and move to prohibit fish traps in Gulf waters. In the best interest of fisheries management and resource conservation, we formally request that the Gulf Council amend its Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan to prohibit the use of fish traps in the Gulf of Mexico.
Requesting Organization
ReefKeeper International
Alexander Stone
2809 Bird Ave.-Ste 162, Miami FL 33133
Endorsing Organizations
American Oceans Andy Palmer
235 Pennsylvania, SE Washington D.C. 20003
Big Pine Keys Civic Association Eugene Shankevinch
PO Box 190 Big Pine Key, Florida 33043
Center for Marine Conservation Maureen Eldredge
1725 DeSalles St. NW Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20036
Environmental Defense Fund Rod Fujita
257 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10010
Environmental Solutions International Lynn Davidson
225 Pennsylvania Avenue SE Washington, D.C. 20003
Florida Audubon Society Charles Lee
460 Semoran Boulevard Castlebury, Florida 32707
Florida Conservation Association Bonnie Beall
PO Box, 216, Mission Building Islamorada, Florida 33036
Florida Defenders of the Environment Robin Hart
350 Prado Drive Sarasota, Florida 34235
Florida Keys Audubon Society Gretta Phillips Ford
1227 Washington St. Key West, Florida 33036
Florida Keys Environmental Fund Charles Causey
PO Box 448 Islamorada, Florida 33036
Florida Public Interest Research Group Carl Perry
7210 Red Road Room 215 Miami, Florida 33143
Florida Wildlife Federation Manley Fuller
PO Box 6870 Tallahassee, Florida 32314
Friends of the Everglades Joe Podgor
101 Westward Drive Office Number 2 Miami Springs, Florida 33166
Izaak Walton League, Florida Division Dr. Carl Keeler
31 Garden Cove Drive Key Largo, Florida 33037
Izaak Walton League, Florida Keys Chapter Sven Lindskold
PO Box 112 Islamorada, Florida 33036
Last Stand Jim McLernan
1330 Atlantic Boulevard Key West, Florida 33040
Manasota 88 Gloria Rains
5314 Bay State Road Palmetto, Florida 34221
National Audubon Society Dr. Sandy Sprunt
115 Indian Mound Trail Tavernier, Florida 33070
Natural Resource Defense Council Lisa Speer
40 West 20th Street New York, New York 10011
Reef Relief Deevon Quirolo
PO Box 430 Key West, Florida 33040
The Nature Conservancy Don Axelrad
PO Box 4958 Key West, Florida 33041
The Wilderness Society Debbie Harrison
8065 Overseas Highway Marathon, Florida 33050
Alexander Stone
Project ReefKeeper
Fish Trap Prohibition Amendment
July 31, 1993
Literature Cited
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. 1989. Pages 300-303
in Amendment Number 1 to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan.
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 1988. Pages 10-15
in Amendment Number 1 and Environmental Assessment and Regulatory
Impact Review to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper Grouper
Fishery of the South Atlantic Region.
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 1991. Pages 59-82
in Amendment Number 4, Regulatory Impact Review, Initial Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis and Environmental Assessment for the Fishery
Management Plan for the Snapper Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic
Region.
Stevenson, D. K. and P. Stuart-Sharkey. 1980. Performance of
wire fish traps on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Proceedings
Gulf and Caribbean Fish. Inst. 32: 172-193.
Sutherland, D. L. and D. E. Harper. 1983. The wire fish trap
fishery of Dade and Broward Counties. Fla. Mar. Res. Pub. No.
40.
Taylor, R.G. and R.H. McMichael Jr. 1983. The wire fish-trap
fishery in Monroe and Collier Counties. Fla. Mar. Res. Pub. No.
39.
VanDolah, R.F., P.h. Wendt and N. Nicholson. 1987. Effects of a research trawl on a hard-bottom assemblage of sponges and corals. Fish. Res. 5: 39-54.
| Fish
Trap Ban in Depth |
How
to Help U.S. Caribbean |
Campaign News |
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