A2 THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2021
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“The question really
becomes are we
prepared with our
management to lose
species?”
BY KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
A
small, spiny fish no
one wants to catch has
started to appear in
trawl nets off the Ore-
gon Coast.
Shortbelly rockfish are com-
mon off California but were
rare in Oregon until recently.
Boosted by several strong re-
productive years, their appar-
ent expansion into new ter-
ritory triggered a discussion
among West Coast fishery reg-
ulators and raised concerns for
conservation groups.
It has also provided a work-
ing example of exactly how
tricky it could be to manage
fisheries as species and ocean
conditions shift under climate
change.
Shortbelly rockfish — a rel-
atively shorter-lived type of
groundfish that travels in large
schools — has little market
value. It has been decades since
anyone even seemed interested
in developing a fishery around
them and they are not in dan-
ger of being overfished, state
biologists say.
When the shortbelly rock-
fish is caught by accident in
other fisheries, its only com-
mercial use is as fishmeal or
fish oil, products made from
fish byproducts, low-
value fish and fishery
bycatch that are used
as fertilizers and ani-
mal feed and in aqua-
culture.
But shortbelly
rockfish is a critical
source of food for
many seabirds, which
face challenging
overall population
declines, as well as for
Chinook salmon and
other marine species.
The shortbelly’s
expansion north puts
them in the path of the state’s
midwater trawl fisheries. The
Pacific whiting fishery began
to record increased encounters
with shortbelly rockfish begin-
ning in 2017.
Most tows that snag short-
belly may only land around
10 pounds of the rockfish, but
every once in a while there
will be a big tow — a light-
ning strike — of over 100,000
pounds.
Triggered a review
The rising number of short-
belly landings triggered a re-
view by the Pacific Fishery
Management Council.
The council, which recom-
mends fishery management
measures in federal waters off
California, Oregon and Wash-
ington state, took several in-
terim steps in 2019 and 2020
to protect the fish. They raised
the annual catch limit and des-
ignated the rockfish as an eco-
system component species, a
title that recognizes shortbel-
ly’s value in the ecosystem as a
forage fish but does not come
with specific fishery manage-
ment measures.
Conservation groups argued
that more proactive protection
was needed.
The Audubon Society and
Oceana urged for a prohibition
that would prevent the creation
of a fishery targeting shortbelly
rockfish.
Right now, shortbelly is
nearly useless to fishermen.
Vessels in the Pacific whiting
fishery actively try to avoid
them. When a vessel does hit a
school of shortbelly, the spiny
fish tangle in the net, creating
frustrating work for crew and
sometimes damaging more
valuable fish around them.
But as interest in aquacul-
ture opportunities and demand
for fishmeal and fish oil grows,
conservation groups worry
about what the future could
hold.
In November, the council
further limited catch of the fish
— Caren Braby, marine program
manager with the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife
Keri Barber/NOAA Fisheries
Vessels in the Pacific whiting, or hake, fishery snag other species in their nets, including, occasionally, a chili-
pepper rockfish. Shortbelly rockfish, rarely seen in Oregon but abundant in California, have also started
showing up in whiting landings — frequently enough and in large enough amounts to raise concerns.
NOAA Fisheries
Recent discussions around shortbelly rockfish highlight some of the challenges states could face when it
comes to regulating fisheries under climate change.
and could consider examin-
ing a prohibition on a directed
fishery for shortbelly next year.
It’s a partial win, said Joe Li-
ebezeit, a scientist and avian
conservation manager for
Portland Audubon.
Anna Weinstein, the direc-
tor of marine conservation with
the National Audubon Society,
agrees. She said the council’s ac-
tion provides some truly mean-
ingful safeguards and breaks.
But in light of climate
change, “It’s just more import-
ant than ever to be proactive
about the foundation of the
food chain that supports all the
species we care about,” Wein-
stein said.
The council does not want to
see targeted fishing on short-
belly rockfish either. However,
a prohibition takes work and
would require extensive anal-
ysis of data, some of which is
not readily available for short-
belly. There has not been a
stock assessment of the fish
since 2007.
“It seems like we should just
be able to say, ‘Thou shalt not
go out and target shortbelly
rockfish,’” said Maggie Som-
mer, with the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife, and
a Pacific Fishery Management
Council member.
It’s not that easy. Fishery
managers need to be clear
❝
Makenna Cervelli
C: 425-622-3186
P: 541-633-2184
mCervelli@bendbulletin.com
about what they are requiring
and what they are enforcing.
They need to understand how
changing management for one
species might impact and im-
pede other fisheries.
It isn’t clear yet why shortbelly
rockfish are so abundant off the
Oregon Coast now — though
warmer ocean waters associated
with a marine heat wave that
began in 2015 are likely a factor.
What is obvious is that short-
belly rockfish have experienced
several very good reproductive
years and expanded north of
their historical range.
Caren Braby, the marine
program manager with the Or-
egon Department of Fish and
Wildlife, has been involved in
council discussions about var-
ious climate change scenarios
for West Coast fisheries.
With shortbelly, she sees
parallels to Oregon’s emerging
market squid fishery.
Landings of market squid
surged off Oregon in the past
five years after decades of be-
ing almost nonexistent. Boats
that fish for the squid in the
animals’ more typical range
off the California coast have
headed north to take advan-
tage of the boom.
The situation caught regula-
tors off guard. Oregon had no
established quota and no set sea-
son for market squid. Suddenly,
as landings continued to come
in strong and the number of
participating vessels increased,
fishery managers
needed to discuss a
whole new suite of
management details.
As with shortbelly,
there are gaps in the
data and uncertainty
about how new man-
agement could im-
pact fisheries or ben-
efit the animals in
question.
Dilemma
It is the kind of
dilemma council
members like Braby
expect to see more of under
climate change and it further
highlights the need to be nim-
ble and flexible, she said. With
climate change and shifting
ocean conditions, some species
will thrive and others will fail.
Many are expected to move
into new areas.
There is one really easy ques-
tion, Braby says: “Are we going
to see new species emerge in
our landings?”
“And the answer,” she said,
“is, ‘Certainly.’ This is an ex-
ample.”
“So the question really be-
comes are we prepared with
our management to lose spe-
cies?” she added. “Are we pre-
pared with our management to
gain species? And the answer
is, ‘Not yet,’ but we’re thinking
really hard about it.”
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