LOUISIANA (23 Sep 2003) -- More regulatory protection for a tiny, herring-like fish species could reduce the number of hungry sharks prowling Gulf Coast beaches, according to a study by scientists from Louisiana State University that has angered commercial fishing groups. Juvenile blacktip sharks, which the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration says are responsible for a large majority of nonfatal shark bites in Florida waters, show a marked preference for menhaden, known locally as "pogies," according to Richard Condrey, associate professor in LSU's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences and one of the authors of the study released last week. When menhaden are not available, young blacktips will roam the shoreline looking for them, increasing the chances they will encounter people, Condrey said. Along the Eastern seaboard, environmental groups say menhaden levels are at historic lows, with only 10 percent of the fish reproducing before being caught by commercial fishermen. If that trend continues, blacktips could become increasingly common in the shallows, Condrey said, urging a commission of scientists, industry representatives and state officials to limit the menhaden harvest in the Gulf of Mexico, where the fish remain abundant. "If we don't move to correct the situation, we're likely to end up with the situation they have in the Atlantic," he said. "Then we can have a real-world test of whether these juvenile blacktips, if they can't find menhaden, are going to find another finfish to eat, or find human pray." Commercial fishers say Condrey is fostering shark hysteria in order to force new regulations on the industry. The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission -- a panel of scientists, state officials and industry representatives -- currently manages menhaden fishing. The commission uses trip and gear restrictions along with seasonal closures to avoid imposing a yearly quota and the kind of restrictions that Condrey suggests, said Toby Gascon, director of governmental relations for Omega Protein, one of two companies that harvests menhaden in Louisiana waters. Gascon said Condrey's sampling method is flawed. He said Condrey examines stomach contents of juvenile blacktips netted in areas rich in pogies. Decades of menhaden fishing in the Gulf, he said, have produced no adverse consequences for humans. "Shark attacks have not increased in the Gulf of Mexico," Gascon said. "And when they banned gill nets in Florida, legislators said exactly the opposite -- that because we were not taking the fish out of the water, the sharks were coming closer." It's a big dispute involving a tiny fish. A single shark attack can wreak havoc on a community's economy. A spate of shark attacks along Gulf Coast beaches two summers ago, which experts blamed on rising shoreline salinity levels that brought sharks closer to shore than usual, had some swimmers avoiding popular tourists beaches. | | Menhaden fishers have plenty at stake. Louisiana accounts for 87 percent of the nation's total menhaden catch, which is the largest volume in the United States, according to the commission. Though people do not consume menhaden, plants and animals do, making pogies essential to farmers as feed and fertilizer, Gascon said. Pogies turn up in margarine, paints, and cat and dog food. Pogies are also a source of Omega-3 fatty acids, which the American Heart Association says can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, Gascon said. Pogies have been good business for Omega Protein, which earned $2.3 million in profits on revenues of $27.3 million in the second quarter of 2003, according to its annual report. But catching menhaden to feed dogs and cats means pogies are less plentiful as food to game fish species, such as tuna, striped bass and tarpon, according to critics. In July, the National Coalition for Marine Conservation issued a petition seeking a ban on all menhaden fishing in Chesapeake Bay, where the reported catch in 2000 fell to its second lowest-level since officials began keeping records in 1940, according to the Chesapeake Bay Ecological Foundation. States including Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and South Carolina have already banned menhaden fishing in some or all of their waters. Despite recent protests from Mississippi anglers who blame two small fish kills last year on menhaden vessels and the menhaden industry's aggressive fishing tactics, which include using spotting planes and boats that surround the fish with nets, Gulf menhaden are not overfished, said Vince Guillory, a marine biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. "Fishing effort in the Gulf of Mexico has actually declined significantly in the past 10 years or so," Guillory said. "The industry has consolidated, plants have closed . . . and the latest stock-assessment shows the resource in good shape." That means resource managers should act now, before stocks show signs of decline, Condrey said. He urged the commission to freeze the allowable catch at present levels, initiate a three- to five-year study of menhaden populations, and create new long-term management strategies for the fishery. "I just don't think there's any rational reason not to stabilize the fishery where it exists now," Condrey said, pointing to the Grand Banks, where U.S. and Canadian regulators failed to prevent the decimation of cod stocks. "Especially when you have examples from all around the world where similar situations have developed and the fisheries have collapsed." SOURCE - PDN |
