The Spot Prawn Fishery: A Status Report - Earth Economics

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The Spot Prawn Fishery: A Status Report WDFW Commission approved this recommendation in November 1997. The ECFA was enacted in 1990 to prevent habitat damage and conserve marine resources. The Act also protects the economic viability of fisheries through measures preventing overcapitalization. It authorizes the WDFW to limit the number of fishery permits issued annually for a period of up to five years. Furthermore, the permits issued are non-transferable and therefore unable to accumulate monetary value. An Industry Advisory Board was appointed in 1998 according to ECFA guidelines. The Board’s mandate was to recommend to the WDFW the number of permits issued and the type of permit qualification requirements. This advice was incorporated into “a comprehensive regulatory package” that was approved by the Commission in December 1998, along with two fishery management policy statements. In January 1999, five trawl gear and ten pot gear permits were issued based on historical participation requirements. Later in 1999, one of these trawl permits was converted to pot at the request of the fisher. An overall catch quota of 250,000 pounds was established and equally allocated to the two gear types. A trawl season of May 1 through November 30 was instituted, and pot vessels were limited to 500 pots per vessel. Due to the fact that trawl gear is “widely reputed to cause inordinate adverse habitat impacts,” trawl gear was legally defined so as to prevent the use of “mud and tire and rockhopper gear” (WDFW 2001a). To avoid inter-jurisdictional conflict, WDFW and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) outlined an agreement restricting fishers to their State’s waters unless they possess a fishing permit in the other State. Under this new management regime, 251,344 pounds of spot prawns were caught in 1998, 86% landed by eight trawlers. Effort and catch both declined in 1999. About 101,326 pounds were landed, 95% landed by three trawl vessels. The Puget Sound Spot Prawn Fishery The Puget Sound spot prawn fishery has a much longer and consistent catch history than the offshore fishery. Management of Puget Sound stocks is better established, especially in Hood Canal, Washington Coastal Commercial Spot Prawn Fishery * Pounds caught off Washington landed in Oregon (Source: Lorna Wargo, WDFW—Montesano) 29
The Spot Prawn Fishery: A Status Report than in the offshore fishery. The fishery is a potonly fishery (excluding Hood Canal, which allows pots, ringnets, and hand dipnets). THE PUGET SOUND COMMERCIAL FISHERY (STATE AND TRIBAL) Spot prawn harvest guidelines in the Puget Sound are not based on stock assessments—methods used to determine harvest levels or harvestable surpluses outside of Hood Canal have been described as “crude.” Nevertheless, the catch limitation system does appear “to be working as there currently is no shortage of spot prawns” in Washington (O’Toole, WDFW. Pers. comm., March 2001). Allocation and management of spot prawns is now guided by the Rafeedie Decision (see “The Rafeedie Decision” box), which requires a 50:50 sharing between Tribal and non-Tribal fishers. Prior to the Rafeedi Decision, spot prawn management in the inshore fishery was directed by fishing performance indices. Annual closures were instituted when the CPUE was reduced to a certain level. Now harvestable surpluses are estimated and used to guide management decisions. Estimates of harvestable surpluses “for areas where extensive shrimp [spot prawn] pot fishing has occurred in past years are based on historical harvests with adjustments based on recent fishery performance. The harvestable surplus of pandalid shrimp [spot prawn] for areas where extensive shrimp [spot prawn] harvest has not yet occurred are projected in consideration of recent fishery performance and the approximate amount of appropriate shrimp habitat relative to areas where fishing has historically occurred” (WDFW 1998). A harvestable surplus is determined for each catch area or group of catch areas. The geographical boundaries of these areas do not necessarily reflect Puget Sound stock structure (O’Toole, WDFW. Pers. comm., May 2001). THE HOOD CANAL FISHERY — RECREATIONAL (STATE) AND COMMERCIAL (TRIBAL) Management of the spot prawn fishery in Hood Canal is carried out separately from the inshore fishery. Non-Tribal commercial fishing has been closed in Hood Canal since 1992. A test fishery is conducted every year in early spring. The annual quota is set based on the relationship between the CPUE in the test fishery and the total catch taken in previous years. Between 1990 and 2001, the average catch in Hood Canal was 168,115 pounds. The Tribal and State fisheries in Hood Canal are based on a 50:50 sharing between Hood Canal Treaty Tribes (Skokomish Tribe, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe, and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe) and non-Tribal recreational fishers. The Tribes and the State regulate their fisheries to ensure that harvest shares are not exceeded. In addition, there is an agreement between the Tribes and the State to avoid scheduling their respective fisheries on the same days. Neither group harvested spot prawns after September 30 for the 2001 fishing season. The Tribes and the State “share the goal of collecting and analyzing additional information to improve shrimp [prawn] management in Hood Canal. This information will include, at a minimum, the following: •“Biological basis for the establishment of harvest seasons, e.g. to deter harvest of ovigerous shrimp [prawns]. •“Biological criteria for in-season data collection to evaluate harvest impacts, e.g. the number of shrimp [prawns] per pound. •“Daily catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) for the Tribal and State fisheries. CPUE will be calculated for each Catch Area (27A, 27B, 27C and will be expressed as the sum of each days total catch divided by the total number of pots fished that day” (WDFW 2001b). The State and the Tribes agree to collaborate on the development and implementation of sampling programs needed to ensure that this information is collected. A post-season assessment is carried out in Hood Canal every year. This assessment includes “at a minimum, harvest by catch reporting areas and catch-effort information” (WDFW 2001b). If either party overharvests its harvest share by more than 5%, the amount of overharvest will be paid back to the resource in the following fishing season. Nature of the Fishery Today The Offshore Spot Prawn Fishery The characteristics and regulations governing the offshore fishery are virtually the same today as they were in the 1998 and 1999 fishing seasons. The fact that there is “little scientific basis for setting quotas” has led WDFW to follow as precautionary an approach as possible, until the biological and fishery performance data are obtained and analyzed (WDFW 2001c). The WDFW and 30
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The Spot Prawn Fishery: A Status Report - Earth Economics

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