Contact: Gordon Helm                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                        11/3/98 

In its second report to Congress on the status of marine fish stocks, the National Marine Fisheries Service said that 100 species reviewed are overfished or approaching an overfished condition, while another 200 species are not overfished. Data from the report will be used by national and regional fishery managers as they finalize plans to end overfishing and rebuild the depleted fisheries, officials of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said today.

The report and marine fish stock rebuilding efforts are required under the amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act passed in 1996. The Regional Fishery Management Councils are required to reassess each Fishery Management Plan (FMP) -- plans that are developed by the councils to manage fishery resources in federal waters -- for compliance with overfishing provisions.

This year's report identifies eight additional species that are overfished, and one additional species that is approaching an overfished condition. The Fisheries Service will now notify the regional councils that they may be required to submit measures to end overfishing and rebuild those stocks determined to be overfished. The councils have until Oct. 9, 1999, to submit updated or prepare new FMPs for review and approval.

"This second annual report gives us an updated picture of the health of marine stocks, and demonstrates that we are learning more about their status," said Terry Garcia, assistant secretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator. "However, as I said last year, these 'overfished' numbers will continue to rise, as definitions in fishery management plans are amended to conform to the new, more stringent requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Management and Conservation Act."

This is the last year that stock levels will be evaluated under the old definitions of overfishing, which only assess the status of juvenile fish populations. Future assessments will use the new Magnuson-Stevens Act definition of overfishing that requires measures to ensure maximum sustainable yield for each species on a continuing basis. The new definition has the effect of "raising the bar" by requiring that rebuilding plans focus on returning the entire stock to its most productive level. These new definitions are now in the process of being included in amendments to existing FMPs and will be included in all new FMPs submitted by the councils for review and approval.

In the 1998 report to Congress on the status of fisheries and identification of overfished stocks, 90 species are listed as overfished, 200 species are listed as not overfished, and 10 species are considered to be approaching an overfished condition. For 544 species, their overfished status is unknown. This year's report includes an additional 122 species that were not included in the 1997 report.

The annual report to Congress is an ongoing examination of the status of the nation's marine fisheries, and takes into account both improvements and declines in fish stocks. Last year's report identified 86 species as overfished, 183 species as not overfished, and 10 species as approaching an overfished condition. For 448 species, the status was unknown. Since then, the status of four species in that report has been reevaluated; three species have been removed from the list of overfished species and one species has been removed from the list of species that are approaching an overfished condition. The councils are no longer required to take measures to either end overfishing or prevent imminent overfishing of those four species.

Based on last year's report, and including the above changes in stock status, councils are submitting amendments to fishery management plans to end overfishing and rebuild 73 overfished stocks, and to prevent overfishing from occurring for the nine stocks that are approaching an overfished condition. Plans are also being developed to prevent overfishing from occurring for the nine stocks that are overfished but not covered by FMPs.

Rebuilding programs must be as short as possible, but not exceed 10 years, except in cases where the biology of the stock, or environmental conditions, or management measures under an international agreement in which the United States participates dictate otherwise.

Interested media can obtain an executive summary of the report by fax from the fisheries service public affairs office at (301) 713-2370. The full report is available on the Internet at http://kingfish.ssp.nmfs.gov/sfa.