Contact: Gordon J. Helm         IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                8/23/96

FISHERIES SERVICE PROPOSES IMPROVEMENTS TO BLUEFIN TUNA ANGLING CATEGORY MANAGEMENT

The National Marine Fisheries Service today announced immediate further improvements to management of the Atlantic bluefin tuna recreational fishery, known as the Angling category. Administrative changes made earlier this year have improved management of the fishery, but did not fully achieve fishery management goals.

Therefore, after listening to recommendations from the fishing community, the fisheries service is unveiling two proposals to improve catch estimates and management in the short term, and a series of long-term proposals designed to improve accuracy in data collection that should result in greater fairness to all anglers along the Atlantic seaboard. These proposals will improve existing regulatory measures without creating new regulations.

"These immediate improvements to the current management structure will allow us to more effectively manage this valuable and heavily fished resource," said Rolland Schmitten, fisheries service administrator. "Once adopted, we believe these proposals can reduce the possibility of overharvest while improving the opportunities for all Atlantic seaboard recreational anglers to catch this prized species."

The proposals are also aimed at reducing the potential for exceeding fishing quotas in the Angling category. Preliminary figures for 1996 indicate that this category may have exceeded its Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT) quota.

In the short term, the fisheries service proposes solving two problems associated with the operation of the annual survey from which Angling category catch estimates are made and fishery closures are based:

• A revised survey will more accurately count the size of the angling fleet to reflect those actually involved in the large pelagic fishery and provide more precise catch estimates. The measure of the fleet size is the greatest factor contributing to uncertainty in the catch estimates. Nearly 20,000 vessels were issued permits in 1996 from Virginia to Maine. The fisheries service has already initiated an audit of the angling permit holders.

• Revising the survey procedures will combine some catch observations to reduce variance and potential bias in the survey estimate. This should provide more accurate catch estimates.

Additionally, the fisheries service is proposing long-term improvements to the monitoring of the ABT Angling category that include:

• Implementing a delayed season or set-aside provision to allow a more equitable opportunity for all fishermen along the coast. Among the possible remedies would be to open the season later in the year, but allow a catch and release fishery with a small quota set-aside for trophy fish; or to set aside a limited portion of the quota for North Carolina. An Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was recently published to address this issue. (A significant portion of the estimated 1996 Angling category catch of small medium bluefin was taken in the North Carolina winter fishery. A substantial transfer from the Reserve category was needed to reduce the impacts to anglers in northern areas.)

• Expanding inseason management authority of the fisheries service administrator to allow the opening and closing of the bluefin fisheries to assess overall catches and to provide a more equitable distribution of the Angling category quota. This proposal is consistent with current regulations regarding inseason transfers from the Reserve.

• Requiring mandatory reporting to provide a more accurate count of recreational bluefin landings on a real-time basis; a requirement strongly supported by some industry leaders. Mandatory reporting of bluefin tuna catches by charter and/or private boat anglers through a toll-free telephone number, perhaps in combination with a tagging or card system, could better document Angling category catches.

• Implementing annual bluefin tuna permits from a centralized location under the direction of the fisheries service highly migratory species division. This action could provide a more efficient, economical and accurate sample frame on which to base catch estimates.

• Conducting pilot study projects in cooperation with outside organizations to identify and evaluate improved reporting mechanisms.

The fisheries service will continue to meet with members of the bluefin angling industry to gather input on these proposed improvements to more accurately monitor the Angling category. Any proposed modifications to existing regulations regarding these long-term improvements to the Angling category will be submitted for public review.