Bottom Trawl

Project UK Fisheries Improvements (PUKFI) is working towards an environmentally sustainable future for UK fisheries by running Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) on eight UK fisheries that have been selected by the UK supply chain. They were selected due to their importance for the UK market.

Two species of monkfish (also called anglerfish), Lophius piscatorius and L. budegassa, are caught in an important set of fisheries in the western Channel and Western Approaches. It should be noted that the gillnet UoA is composed of (i) trammel nets (>220 mm mesh size) GTR and (ii) a combination of set gillnets (anchored) GNS, gillnets and entangling nets (not specified) GEN and gillnets (not specified) GN, all >220 mm. 

Although separate stocks, these are managed together through a shared TAC. ICES’ advice is provided for both species separately but only L. piscatorius has reference points and uses a precautionary, MSY approach.   ICES consider this to be a Category 3 stock where management is essentially based on recent trends, rather than well-defined harvest rules.  Under P1, this Action Plan therefore seeks to address this through better single species management, a reduction in unwanted target catch through the development of alternative management measures and the introduction of probabilistic analysis of stock assessment e.g. include confidence limits.

In P2, a major part of the plan is developed to improving the major weakness of the fisheries identified by the pre-assessment, the management of secondary species caught in these fisheries.  This will cover other fish as well as out of scope species such as seabirds and marine mammals, esp. for the gillnet fisheries, as well as ETPs.  The Action Plan also looks at reducing the impact of these fisheries – especially the beam trawl segment – on habitats, especially VMEs.  The plan also calls for a Scale Intensity Consequence Analysis (SICA) analysis of the impact of beam trawling on the ecosystem.

Under P3, the plan seeks the development of a fisheries -specific management plan that that includes explicit short and long-term objectives.  This should formalise the existing harvest strategy and harvest control rules for both species of anglerfish.  It also calls for external evaluation of the management of these anglerfish fisheries, possibly though a final pre-assessment before the FIP is concluded and the fisheries might be considering entering into full MSC assessment process.

Fishery Improvement Projects provide an opportunity to improve and document information and management of fisheries not yet eligible to receive sustainability certifications.

The  Groundfish Enterprise  Allocation Council (GEAC) is an organization that represents the  >100’ groundfish license holders in Atlantic Canada. The membership of GEAC holds almost 80% of the quotas for each of the two management units.  As the fishery recovers from historic lows, the importance of a sustainable economic development of this expanding resource has never been higher. This FIP is a forum to plan for any sustainability issues to be resolved prior to assessment against the performance indicators of the MSC assessment framework.  

The Pacific Ocean is the most productive fishing area for Mexico, providing approximately 75 percent of seafood catch by volume, and accounting for most of the country’s seafood exports by value. The Mexican Pacific Ocean industrial shrimp fishery is the most important fishery for the country; having the greatest economic value. It is also the highest-ranked fishery in terms of number of vessels and directly-connected jobs. The fishery is also the country’s third largest by volume with annual landings of approximately 42,000 tonnes, 70% of which is produced by the bottom-trawl Fleet.

At the same time, the industrial shrimp fishery has some ecologically damaging effects on the habitats where it harvests. For decades, the use of antiquated gear and an increase in the number and the size of vessels have exacted a heavy toll on the environment. Prior to the fleet reduction ten years ago, it was estimated that high levels of bycatch had resulted in the wasteful discard of tens of thousands of tonnes of approximately 600 marine species. Fortunately, in the last two decades, the Mexican Pacific Ocean bottom-trawl shrimp fishery has implemented major improvements toward achieving sustainability - the fleet reduction is by far the biggest change implemented. Thanks to the federal government's buyout program which began in 2006, the fleet was reduced by 50 percent and today has the same number of vessels that it had in the 1970s. The shrimp fishing gear has also evolved significantly. All vessels in the fleet now use low-weight materials that have reduced their drag weight by 90 percent. Furthermore, besides the mandatory use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), the fishery regulations require mandatory use of bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) and establishes a maximum net size. The fishery also requires the use of bigger mesh sizes to foster selective harvesting.

Fishery administration and enforcement have also improved. All shrimp fishing vessels are now monitored 24/7 by the fisheries agency CONAPESCA through a vessel monitoring system (VMS) capable of identifying incursions to restricted areas and fishing activities in prohibited zones. Producers compliance has also strengthened as a result of the implementation of procurement policies subject to third independent party audits based upon the control document approach designed by Sustainable Fisheries Partnership.

UPDATE FOR MAY 2019: Research to support the rational management of threadfin bream along India's westcoast is now a federal priority and backed by a major thrust of research by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Demersal Fisheries Division. (Ref. http://www.cmfri.org.in/division/demersal-fisheries-division)

Launched in April 2017 and led by Gadre Marine Export PVT Ltd., this FIP is working to address challenges in the Japanese threadfin bream trawl fishery (Nemipterus japonicus) operating along the length of India's west coast where the stock is located. The project will advance the objectives to improve this fishery, and will focus on the rules and tools in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. Gadre Marine Export PVT Ltd. is a surimi processor purchasing threadfin bream from five coastal states in India. Gadre will host roundtables for the industry, fishing societies and regulators to meet, discuss, and set the objectives in motion. 

A preliminary assessment against the Marine Stewardship Council Standard was completed in May 2017.The pre-assessment included a comprehensive assessment of scientific literature, interviews with fishing boat owners, and consultations with scientists in the coastal states. The major finding was that trawler boat owners, as well as scientific institutions, are optimistic that the fishery can rebound to optimum levels if concrete steps are undertaken over a five-year period.

Overfishing is occurring on west coast threadfin bream according to the 2014 stock assessment which recommended a 20% reduction in fishing.  The major problem is overfishing on juveniles.  Fishery scientists and managers agree it is the major target.  There is a 61 day fishing ban during breeding season 1 June through 31 July every year.  To further reduce fishing impacts on juveniles, Kerala has extended the ban and Maharashtra has required use of square mesh in the cod-end of trawls.  The FIP supports the notion of a coastwide Winter closure to reduce fishing impacts on juveniles further.

Fundamentally, the area most needing improvement is the age of threadfin bream at capture.  This can be achieved with short- and long-term measures that include seasonal bans to avoid fishing when juveniles dominate the catch, enforcement of increased mesh size in the cod-end of trawl nets, and seizure of illegal gears at fishing ports; so that harvest rates drop to appropriate levels.