Quotas to Slash Take of Some Fish Species

After two decades of dropping his lines off the Southern California coast, Santa Barbara fisherman Gerry Richter faces considerable uncertainty next year. But he knows one thing for sure: He’s going to be catching a lot fewer rockfish.

Federal regulations taking effect Jan. 1 will cut the commercial West Coast catch of some types of the fish--commonly sold as red snapper--by more than half.

The limits come in addition to substantial reductions imposed two years ago, and follow new government assessments indicating that some of the species have dwindled to a fraction of their historic levels.

“To rebuild them, we have to take draconian measures right now,” said Steve Ralston, a research biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

In 1998, rockfish made up nearly 40% of the state’s commercial groundfish catch and roughly half its value.

“Our groundfish have just gone down and down and down,” Ralston said of the dozens of species that live on the ocean bottom and usually make up more than half of California’s commercial catch.

Sportfishing, as well as the growing near-shore industry of catching live fish for restaurant tanks, will also be affected by the regulations. The state, which has jurisdiction over waters up to three miles off the coast, is expected to essentially duplicate the new rules.

Estimates of the economic impact of the new limits on the West Coast fishery range from a couple million dollars to at least $15 million.

Up and down California, fishing industry representatives are using grim words when they discuss the next year.

“It’s going be bad,” said Peter Leipzig, executive director of the Fishermen’s Marketing Assn.

“There will be individuals going out of business. I don’t think there’s a question,” said Diane Pleschner, manager of the California Seafood Council.

Richter called the new catch quotas devastating.

To meet the regulations, he says he not only will have to take his 26-foot boat into deeper waters, but also catch different types of fish than he has customarily hauled in with his one-man hook-and-line operation.

He hopes to pull up a ton of fish a month next year, compared with the two to four tons he is used to.

“Everybody’s income is definitely going to be down,” said Richter, 43.

The picture is not entirely bleak, though. A number of fisheries are in relatively good shape on the West Coast, including those for pink shrimp, sardines and swordfish.

“This is a blow, but the industry is not crippled,” said LB Boydstun of the state Fish and Game Department, who sits on the federal council that set the new limits. “It affects part of the industry.”

Moreover, there is general agreement, even in the fishing community, that steps need to be taken to protect rockfish stock.

Leipzig went so far as to suggest that the West Coast groundfish trawler fleet of 270 should be cut in half with a federal buyback program of boats and permits. “We don’t need the fleet we have,” he said.

Still, many fishermen dispute that the stocks are as low as federal scientists say they are; they also complain that parts of the coast lack good data about the size of fish populations.

“We’d like to see more good science and good numbers,” said Mike Ricketts, who catches live fish for restaurant tanks off the Central Coast. “How much of an impact are we really having?”

Biologists attribute the decline to several factors: a warming trend in the water, pollution, overfishing by foreign fleets and the build-up of domestic fleets, with the encouragement of the federal government, after they were pushed out of coastal waters.

“Five to 10 years ago for the most part we thought we were doing a pretty good job of managing these fisheries,” said Jim Hastie, fisheries economist for the National Marine Fisheries Service. “[But] it’s very clear at this point . . . that we have far too many fishing boats for the amount of fish that are there.”

Some types of rockfish can live for more than a century. They are relatively late maturing and, marine biologists are realizing, not as productive as they were thought to be.

The five species of most concern are bocaccio, Pacific Ocean perch, cowcod and canary rockfish--all rockfish--and lingcod.

Ocean perch is caught off the Pacific Northwest, while the others are found to at least some extent off California. The five species are estimated by federal scientists to be at 5% to 20% of the average level they would maintain if they had never been fished. A species is officially deemed overfished when it dips below 25% of its historic levels.

Dozens of other rockfish types--with healthier populations--are also being targeted by the new regulations because they are often caught along with the five depleted species.

Tom Barnes, a marine biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game, estimated that as a result of the regulations, the overall catch quotas for rockfish will drop about 30% next year in California.

In addition to the quotas, there will be some seasonal bans. For instance, the sport fishery will not be able to catch certain kinds of rockfish for two months.

Bob Fletcher, president of the Sport Fishing Assn. of California, said roughly 100 sport fishing boats in Southern California will be significantly hurt by the new catch limits.

Those who catch live fish near shore also face seasonal closings, and the new rules may force some out of the business--a lucrative niche market that has grown with the increase in Asian restaurants.

That, said Jim Bassler of Fort Bragg, may help those who stick it out.

“I’m going to see where the price goes and where the fishing pressure goes. It might be a good thing if I held on and there’s less fishermen and a higher price.

“But right now,” he added, “it’s looking pretty bad.”