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MCA Member Newsletter | April 2015Dear MCA Member -

As the first quarter of 2015 comes to a close Id like to thank you for your support of the Marine Conservation Alliance. I also hope that 2015 is off to as good of a start for you as it is for those of us here in the MCA office. This year promises to be an exciting one on the MCA front as we embark on several projects and tackle a handful of pressing and complicated issues.

In early March, we wrapped up our annual Board meeting where we made decisions on priorities and finances for the year. This year we will embark on a larger list of projects than weve taken on during my past three years as director. Fortunately we are able to buffer the cost of these projects due to careful financial steps that were taken over the past couple of years. The Board voted to increase project funds for the year by utilizing some of our financial reserves and drawing from savings, and by increasing dues just slightly from last year.

Some of the major issues that the MCA Board voted to tackle this year include:

Marine National Monuments Bering Sea Canyons Pacific Halibut Research Interactive Map on Sustainable Fisheries Management

In addition, the Board voted to establish other priorities that may involve some of our efforts depending on how they unfold over the next few months. These include: the EFH 5 year review; ecosystem-based fishery management; Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization; and continuing work on revisions to National Standard 1 Guidelines. Ill elaborate some more on our priorities for the year below.

Merrick BurdenExecutive Director

IN THIS ISSUE

Marine NationalMonuments 2

Bering Sea Canyons 2

Pacific Halibut Research 3

Interactive Map onSustainable FisheriesManagement 3-4

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Marine National Monuments

Over the past couple of years there has been heightened attention on the establishment of conservation areas in the North Pacific. Last fall a National Marine Sanctuary Proposal for the Aleutian Islands region got everyones attention. Thankfully this proposal was rejected by NOAA.

In addition, over the past year or so, there have been discussions about the possible use of the Antiquities Act to establish marine national monuments off the coast of Alaska for purposes of conservation. The last time this tool was used was to expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in waters of the Western Pacific. What is concerning about the use of this authority is that it does not come with any public process requirement, nor does it include much in the way of guiding principles in terms of when it should or should not be used. When the Act is used for its original purpose (to protect relatively small areas of historical significance) it is one thing. The possibility of using that same authority to close massive areas off the coast of Alaska to fishing without transparency or public process requirements is quite another.

This coming year we will be working to ensure

that any discussion concerning new conservation measures in the North Pacific occurs in a transparent, public process. At the present time we are working on the details of that strategy, the fine points of which will come into focus over the next couple of weeks. If you have questions about how this is unfolding I invite you to send me an email or call our office.

Bering Sea Canyons

In mid-March staff at the AFSC presented some additional findings from last summers camera drop survey they conducted to look for corals along the Bering Sea shelf-edge/slope area. You may recall a couple of us here at MCA worked hard to make sure AFSC had the funding to conduct the survey. We did so because we feel that conservation decisions should be supported by sound scientific information. Prior to the survey being conducted, discussions about Bering Sea canyons and nearby areas of the continental slope were being informed by a patchwork of studies some biased and without much in the way of adequate sample size. The preliminary findings from this camera drop survey effort have painted a fairly different image than the prior studies would have led us to believe, meaning our efforts at ensuring the research survey took place paid off. The preliminary findings to date tell us a few things, including: coral density is low, sponge density is low, sea pen density is high in a couple of areas, there is limited evidence of fishing gear effects, and others. The AFSC will be presenting their final report

The expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in September 2014. Image courtesy

NOAA.

The original coral model versus the refined coral model after the summer camera drop survey. Image courtesy

Chris Rooper/NOAA.

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on this research to the Council in June and we expect policy decisions to occur sometime toward the end of this year or early next. Until then, MCA is working to make sure the best available scientific information is used and that it is used in a rational manner that works for the fishing industry.

Pacific Halibut Research

One of the biggest scientific gaps in halibut science is the lack of a clear understanding of what is happening with the small, young age classes of halibut. The current assessment focuses on fish that are within the exploitable size category (sizes caught by halibut longline gear) and makes some estimates about smaller size classes based on what has recruited to the directed halibut fishery over the past couple of years. The chief halibut assessment scientist has described this as driving forward by looking in the rearview mirror. A better handle on what is happening with small, juvenile halibut allows us to make better forecasts about the future status of the stock, and enables managers to make more informed policy decisions about directed halibut fisheries and fisheries that take halibut as bycatch. In other words, a better handle on small halibut populations is in everyones interest.

Over the past year we have been working on a halibut research project intended to develop a sound index of small halibut. This has been an elusive issue for decades, but improvements in computing-power and enhanced data collection convinced us that it was time to try again. We have contracted Dr. David Sampson at Oregon State University to answer some initial research questions. In particular, we asked him to look at the NOAA trawl survey (which catches small halibut) and to identify reasons why halibut year classes that were apparent in that trawl survey never materialized in the directed fishery or IPHC survey. Were they ever there to begin with? While formulating these research questions, we have been talking with staff at the AFSC about their efforts at helping with halibut science. They are currently working on a complimentary set of research questions which looks at halibut bycatch in groundfish fisheries and its utility as a possible

index of small halibut. In looking at preliminary data, it appears that merging the AFSC research and the OSU research could potentially result in a solid index of small halibut abundance. If successful, this could ultimately improve sustainable management of the resource and allow for more informed policy discussions of how best to manage it. Needless to say Im feeling rather optimistic that we will be able to make such a contribution. Your financial support has been invaluable in taking these steps and making the progress that has been made to date.

Interactive Map on Sustainable Fisheries Management

For much of the past decade we have heard calls to abandon single species fishery management for a more holistic approach. Yet when pressed, nobody can really tell you what that means. At the end of the day we believe the discussion continues to be one about sustainability and how to utilize new and better scientific information in order to attain that end.

Early last year we began educating ourselves in the way of ecosystem-based fishery management, which I see as a process of pulling together new and better scientific information in a way that advances sustainability goals. From research we

NMFS crew deck sorting juvenile Pacific halibut during an Aleutian Island trawl survey. Image courtesy IPHC.

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had commissioned last year, we identified 7 steps to using ecosystem principles in order to help ensure sustainable fisheries goals are met. Since then we have asked ourselves whether the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has been utilizing these 7 steps and whether we could show real-world examples of how good fishery management incorporates these principles to ensure sustainability. What we found was that the North Pacific Council (and other councils around the U.S. for that matter) do successfully integrate each of these 7 steps into fisheries management. In places where each of these steps has been incorporated, we see large-scale successes on the socioeconomic and conservation front. We think this is an important story to tell.This year we will be producing an interactive web-

based tool which shows the 7 steps to sustainability with examples from the North Pacific. Our target audience for this tool is policy-makers and advocates, but we can see this tool being adapted in ways which serve market audiences, and even being adapted by other regions which may desire to tell a similar story. We expect this tool to be produced by late summer/early fall.

Finally, Id like to thank you for your support of the Marine Conservation Alliance. I hope you find our goals for this year to be as exciting as I do. Attaining them would not be possible without your support.

Please feel free to stop by our offices, to email, or to call if you have any questions.

Merrick Burden, Executive Directormerrickbmca@gmail.com

4005 20th Ave W, Suite 115Seattle, WA 98199(206) 535-8357 (office)(206) 260-3639 (fax)

Be sure to visit the newly updated MCA website!www.marineconservationalliance.orgAnd follow us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/MarineConservationAlliance

A first look at the potential landing page of the new interactive map/tool - to be released later this summer or fall.