If no one catches fish in the ocean, are they still there? Commercial fishermen say yes, but fisheries science has been saying otherwise.
The disconnect between what fishermen experience on the water and the information regulators use to manage stocks has always been a bugaboo, but it’s a particular problem when it comes to monkfish.
Since scientists can’t age monkfish, they tie the total allowable landings to an incomplete federal survey and fishermen’s landings over the last few years – which plummeted during COVID when the markets shut down.
When fishermen began targeting the ugly, yet delicious, big-mouthed fish again, they were faced with drastic cuts because the stock assessment model assumed there were less fish because landings were down.
Seeing the problem, Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance teamed up with School for Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth and commercial fishermen to use a competitive federal grant program to better incorporate fishermen’s effort into the stock assessment.
“Our goal for this project was to provide a way to expand the the stock assessment model to include fishing effort,” said Melissa Sanderson, chief operating office at Fishermen’s Alliance, who noted that local gillnet fishermen have told her that they are less likely to target monkfish when prices are low or when the skates clog up the nets excluding the monks. “Because monkfish landings are low, the amount fishermen are allowed to harvest keeps going down.”
Sanderson said problems with the assessment have outlasted COVID.
“If you aren’t going fishing because prices suck, or you didn’t get out or because buyers aren’t buying, we don’t want that to effect next year’s allowable catch,” she explained during a Zoom call with fishermen last winter.
The project started a few years ago and incorporates vessel trip reports, observer data, catch data, and other variables into a standardized form to tie a value to a fishermen’s catch per unit effort. That CPUE, after being peer reviewed, could be used by managers.
The lack of monkfish landings has also impacted funding for the research project, which relies on fishermen leasing research set aside days at sea to target monkfish. The value of the project to fishermen and their businesses prompted Fishermen’s Alliance to pre-pay for the project, regardless of research funds. Project extensions mean that there are still Research Set Aside days available for fishermen – for about nine cents a pound. (Monkfish fetch from $1 to 3.50 per pound to the boat)
“If you need RSA days, please reach out to me,” said Sanderson.
RSA programs are unique to the East Coast and overseen by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. No federal funds are used; a portion of the allowable monkfish landings are set aside and leased back to the fishermen to fund the work. And on an RSA trip, there are no trip limits – vessels are just limited by the amount of RSA pounds they have leased.
The formal name of the project is “Integrating Fishermen’s Knowledge into Standardized CPUE Indices for Monkfish” and research was led by graduate student Sierra Richardson, working with Professor Steve Cadrin.
Richardson included variables such as area, depth, and month in her models, which helped account for key factors that influence catch rates beyond changes in monkfish abundance. For example, the federal survey ship, the Bigelow, uses different gear and operates in different areas than the fleet.
“Catch rates vary seasonally as fishing effort, fish distribution, and environmental conditions change, so including the month allows yearly CPUE indices to account for this seasonal variability,” Richardson explained. “Bringing all important variables together in one model reduces bias from changing fishing behavior, improves model performance, and results in more reliable and interpretable standardized CPUE indices.”
To develop the CPUE, Richardson looked at nine different factors, including tow duration, tow speeds, and horsepower. She also explored environmental drivers (the increasing abundance of skate that fill nets before monkfish) and economic factors (the number of vessels in the southern gillnet fleet has dropped from 200 vessels to 75).
She said fishermen involved in the project, homeported from New York to Rhode Island to Maine, were essential in interpreting the data and producing the models.
“I was really surprised by how many fishermen want to be involved in the science that goes into fisheries management,” Richardson said. “With already busy schedules, I was impressed by how they still took extra time to participate in workshops and help us understand their fishery and their data.”
Massachusetts and Rhode Island fishermen typically target monkfish in winter months and can travel hundred miles to catch the mottled brown angler fish, which can provide about a third of their income.
Julia Child introduced the fish, often called “poor man’s lobster” to American consumers (it was already popular in France), but it hasn’t received the respect it deserves. Recently, monkfish is becoming more common on restaurant menus and with home chefs underscoring the importance of this work.
“Monkfish is delicious and one of my favorites. If you aren’t comfortable cooking fillets, you can try pre-made monkfish burgers,” said Sanderson.
Richardson expects her RSA report to be completed in February. The project has been a priority for the New England Fishery Management Council, which voted in December to prioritize a peer review of the CPUE results.
Fishermen interested in RSA days can reach out to Melissa Sanderson at [email protected] or 508-945-2432 x 100.
