dr. shipp testimony 3-13-13
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TestimonyofDr.RobertL.Shipp
CommitteeonNaturalResources
March13,
2013
MynameisBobShipp,andIamaprofessorofMarineSciencesattheUniversityofSouthAlabama.In
additionIhaveserved17yearsontheGulfofMexicoFisheryManagementCouncil,threetimeselected
chairoftheCouncil,andpresentlyserveaschairoftheCouncilsreefFishCommittee.
ThecurrentmanagementofreefspeciesintheGulfofMexicoisfailing.Iamsuggestingashiftinthe
managementauthorityasdescribedbelow.
IaminsupportofincreasingfisherymanagementauthoritytotheGulfstatesbyextendingthestates
authoritytomanagereefspeciesoffinfishoutto20fathoms.Iwilladdressthreefundamentalreasons
whythis
would
be
beneficial.
First,mostreefspecies,andespeciallyredsnapper,inhabittheGulfwaterstodepthsof100fathoms.So
byextendingstateauthorityto20fathomsinnowaythreatensoptimalmanagementofreefspecies.In
fact,theGulfstateshaveexcellenthistoriesofsuccessfulfisherymanagement,anditisintheirbest
economicintereststooptimallymanagethesespecies.Beyond20fathoms,theFisheryManagement
CouncilsandNationalMarineFisheriesServicewouldcontinuetheirauthority.
Second,IrefertothelanguageofNationalStandard1oftheMagnusonAct:preventoverfishingand
achieveoptimalyield.Recentlywehavebeenprimarilyconcernedwiththepreventoverfishing
verbiage,oftentimesignoringachievingoptimalyield.Byallowingindividualstatestomanagereef
fishstocksto20fathomswouldmarkedlyimprovethelikelihoodofachievingoptimalyield.Asan
example,inFloridaspottedseatrout(=speckledtrout)baglimitis4.InLouisianaitis25.Thisisbecause
thehabitatforspottedseatroutinLouisianacansupportastockwiththelargeryield.Asimilarsituation
existsforredsnapper.OfftheAlabamacoast,some17,000artificialreefshavebeenconstructed.Each
holdsatremendousnumberofredsnapper,whichcouldeasilysupportafisherywithafarhigheryield,
anoptimalyield,thanthecurrent28dayseasonwitha2fishbaglimit.
Thirdisamatteroflogic.IwastrainedbytheJesuits,andoneofthefirstrequiredcourseswaslogic.
Withredsnapperpopulationswehaveaconundrumoflogic.Redsnapperstocksareconsidered
overfished.Projectionsofredsnappermaximumsustainableyield(MSY)madeduring thepasttwenty
yearshave
varied
between
about
15
30
million
pounds
annually
for
the
Gulf
of
Mexico.
But
we
have
neverharvestedmorethan10millionpounds,andoftenmuchlessthanthat.Soifastockcanyield15
ormoremillionpoundsannually,buthasneveryieldedanywherenearthatnumber,howcanitbe
overfished?Thereisananswertothisriddle.Thehabitatforredsnapperhasbeenincreased
dramatically.BeforeWorldWarII,therewaslittleornoredsnapperharvestfromthenorthwestern
Gulf,despitenumerousattemptstolocatefisheryproductiveareasthere.Butfromthemid fortieson,
theharvestinthewesternGulfhasincreaseddramatically.Thereason? About4,000petroleum
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platforms,andthousandsofartificialreefs.Currentlymorethansixtypercentofsnapperharvestcomes
fromtheseareaswithartificialhabitat.IntotaltheharvestpotentialofredsnapperintheGulfhas
increased.
Andrelated,thecurrentpracticeofremovingtheseplatformswithexplosiveskillsthousandsofpounds
ofreef
species.
A
recent
video
obtained
by
the
NBC
affiliate
in
Mobile,
revealed
amortality
of
about
10,000poundsofredsnapperatthesurface.Diverstellmethatprobably4to5timesthatmuchis
hiddenbeneath.Farbetterwouldbetodismantlethesestructures,laythemontheirsidesonthe
bottom,asisdoneintherigstoreefsprogram offLouisiana.
SowehavethemostvaluablefinfishfisheryintheGulfofMexiconotbeingharvestedatoptimalyield
andwithitshabitatunderduress.ReauthorizationofMagnusonasdescribedabovewouldrectifythis
dilemma.
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