Alayna Siddall

Session 10, Talk 3, 20/1/16 @ 1130 hrs

The Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel (CPFV) fleet in southern California is the largest of its kind in the world, with over a 100-year history. Since 2014, the recreational fishery for bluefin has experienced significant management changes in the form of individual daily bag limit reductions (10 fish to 2 fish per person per day) in US waters and a complete (but temporary) moratorium in Mexican waters, which were the result of the species stock assessment produced in 2014. To understand the potential economic impacts of bag limit reductions, the Sportfishing Association of California (SAC) surveyed approximately 1200 bluefin tuna anglers in 2014, and results were presented at the Pacific Fishery Management Council. During this time, the bluefin fishery was exceptionally productive in US waters with anglers landing fish across all size classes (1-4 year old fish) within state and federal waters, producing catches that had not been seen previously. Determining the economic impacts of the recent management changes on the fishery is difficult given the atypical fishing conditions for bluefin during the 2015 season, likely due to the El Niño and associated oceanographic conditions. However, the bluefin fishery continues to be an extremely important component of recreational fishing in California, which is valued at $2.8 billion annually by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Additionally, the fleet continues to ensure accountability with the recent transition into the new electronic fishing log book system, and is now actively engaged in two voluntary projects being led by SAC to collect length/frequency and length/weight data, which will help to produce more informed stock assessments for the species in the future.

Contact:  A. Siddall, Director of Science and Communications, Sportfishing Association of California, San Diego, USA, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.