SC Fishing Industry, Regulators Not Sure What's Next As Species Head North; Shrimp, Yellowfin, More
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As the waters warm this spring, the near-shore shrimping grounds will open. More of the half-million licensed recreational anglers in South Carolina will crank up boat motors and head out. Commercial boats are out there already. While the pressure on species from overfishing is a long-recognized and long-regulated issue, now there is a new one: How long will this fish even be there?
Anxiety is starting to churn in fishing communities over what will happen to their livelihoods or hobbies. The value to South Carolina of its rich shrimp and finfish waters has been estimated at $44 billion per year for both recreational and commercial fishing combined. “Yellowfin tuna — we used to pack a good deal of it,” said Rutledge Leland, of Carolina Seafood, which operates at the McClellanville dock. “I can’t remember the last time I saw yellowfin tuna. They see more of it off North Carolina.”
For regulators, the question now is what to do about it. Federal fish management councils set the catch rules by region. “We’re seeing the boats beginning to travel farther north to continue to catch the fish they were catching,” said Franklin Schwing, a science division chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Schwing was one of a number of researchers who took part in the study.
The councils have started working jointly on rules for “shifting species,” fish that used to be exclusive to one region but are now rapidly crossing into others. At its meeting earlier this month, the South Atlantic Fish Management Council brainstormed with both Mid-Atlantic and New England council directors.
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https://www.postandcourier.com/news/federal-regulators-scramble-as-sc-fish-start-to-range-north/article_e14f5428-4a77-11e9-9322-8b3b1d218af1.html
