Sep 3 2010

Sardine Fishermen Hope Research Shows There are More Fish in the Sea

By Judith Wellner

Mid-County Post

Sept. 2, 2010

Sardine season has ended in the Monterey Bay, and fishermen are struggling to make ends meet due to the low fishing quotas and the shortening of fishing season. Quotas have dropped by more than 50 percent in the last few years.

In 2007, fisheries were allowed to harvest 152 metric tons of sardines. The number dropped to 66 metric tons in 2009. This year, it’s 72 metric tons.

Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association (CWPA), says that while government statistics say sardine stock assessments for the past three years have declined sharply, many fishermen – especially in the Pacific Northwest – report massive schools of sardines, which they believe aren’t being accurately counted.

Read more here.

Categories Research on September 3, 2010 by DianePleschner | 1 Comment
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One comment on “Sardine Fishermen Hope Research Shows There are More Fish in the Sea”

  1. Judith Wellner wrote a very compelling article, capturing the importance of this sardine research to our wetfish industry, and the importance of this historic industry to the State. One small correction: the quota numbers she reported inadvertently omitted ‘thousand’, as in 152 thousand etc. Even so, that is a small percentage of the total number of sardines in the ocean, as she accurately points out.
    California’s wetfish industry has had a longstanding interest in collaborative research, dating back to the origins of the California Cooperative Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) in the 1940s. We’re striving to improve understanding of wetfish resources, to ensure sustainable fisheries and fishing communities.
    Diane Pleschner-Steele, Executive Director CWPA

    Diane Pleschner-Steele on said: