PORTSMOUTH, NH - The report coming out of the 36th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC) was a bit bleak compared to recent news on many groundfish species.

    SARC scientists, who regularly assess the status of the region's fish stocks, found that two stocks of yellowtail flounder and one winter flounder stock remain at low biomass levels.

    Their management advice for the yellowtail stocks? Reduce fishing mortality to near zero.

    The SARC did not make adjustments to the assessments to compensate for the trawl warp problems on the research vessel Albatross IV. That situation is still under investigation and going through peer review (see CFN February 2003).

    Terry Smith of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center presented the SARC's latest findings to the New England Fishery Management Council at a Jan. 28-30 meeting in Portsmouth, where he first explained that the SARC had combined some of the yellowtail stocks for assessment purposes.

    In the past, scientists looked at four yellowtail stocks: Cape Cod, Georges Bank, Southern New England, and Mid-Atlantic. The Gulf of Maine never had a stand-alone yellowtail stock in the assessment process.

    This year, scientists combined Southern New England with the Mid-Atlantic and also lumped the Gulf of Maine in with the Cape Cod stock. The Georges Bank yellowtail stock, which is the healthiest of them all, was not reassessed during the 36th SARC.

    According to Smith, the SARC determined that the new combined Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic stock of yellowtail flounder was overfished and overfishing was occurring.

    The fishing mortality rate of .91 was much greater than the target of .26, he said.

    The spawning stock biomass (SSB) is low, roughly around 1,900 metric tons (mt) instead of the target of 69,500 mt, and recruitment has been poor for "more than a decade."

    When council members asked questions about the pros and cons of combining the two stocks, Smith said, "We've been talking about whether the split between Southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic is appropriate for over a decade."

    The SARC, in its draft advisory report, further stated, "There are no Š physical barriers between the Southern New England and Mid-Atlantic areas and there appears to be substantial movement across the existing boundary between the management units for these two stocks."

    The SARC also reported that there were "similarities in biological characteristics" between the Southern New England and Mid-Atlantic stock units.

    What seemed to worry some council members even more was the situation with Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine yellowtail.

    The newly combined population was determined to be overfished, with overfishing occurring, and the fishing mortality rate of .75 was considered to be "much greater" than the target of .17. The SSB of 3,200 mt also was considered to be "much less" than the target of 12,600 mt.

    Council members seriously questioned the level of confidence behind the Cape Cod status. Fishermen who work on that stock have been vehemently challenging recent assessments since they find yellowtail around Cape Cod to be in far better shape than what the SARC says.

    Various council members also asked how much the Gulf of Maine addition had changed the final determination of the combined stocks' status.

    Smith said, "There are times when the Gulf of Maine component contributes a fair amount to the total stock, which happened most recently in 2001. But the Gulf of Maine component is very, very minor compared to the total."

    Scientist Steve Cadrin, who worked on the assessment, added that "there may be some dynamics that affect Cape Cod yellowtail," such as intermixing with one of the other bigger yellowtail stocks.

    "There's a need for research on exchange rates," he said.

    Since the Cape Cod stock is relatively small, even a minor amount of exchange from, say, the Georges Bank stock, could have a substantial impact, Cadrin explained.

    The SARC's report added that, by definition, a stock unit needs to be "self-sustaining," which could be problematic for Cape Cod yellowtail since "there appears to be little evidence of egg and larval production in this area."

    As for Gulf of Maine yellowtail, the SARC said, "The available information suggests that there is no basis to maintain a distinction between the Cape Cod stock unit and the remaining distribution of the resource in the Gulf of Maine."

    The SARC also updated the status of two winter flounder stocks.

    The Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic stock was determined to be overfished, with overfishing occurring, and the fishing mortality rate of .51 was higher than its target of .32. SSB was estimated to be 7,600 mt in 2001 compared to its maximum sustainable yield (MSY) target of 30,100 mt.

    The SARC said, "Early indications are that the 2001 year class is the smallest in 22 years."

    As for management advice, the SARC recommended that fishing mortality be reduced to the "F rebuild" level of .24 in 2003.

    "F rebuild" is the term scientists and managers are now using to describe the fishing mortality rate that should be in place once the stock is rebuilt to the appropriate MSY level.

    The good news was for Gulf of Maine winter flounder, which the SARC declared not overfished, adding that overfishing was not occurring. The fishing mortality rate was very low at .14 compared to its MSY rate of .43. Commercial catches of this stock are very low.

    Ironically, in the face of this uplifting news, recreational fishermen challenged the assessment, saying they couldn't believe Gulf of Maine winter flounder weren't overfished.

    "I strongly disagree," said recreational fisherman Bill Hubbard, who argued that recreational fishermen now have a hard time finding winter flounder in the Gulf of Maine.

    "Winter flounder were always the bread and butter fish of the recreational fishery," he said.

    The SARC also assessed the status of northern shrimp, though the report didn't contain any information that fishermen weren't already aware of through the annual assessment process conducted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which manages the fishery.

    The SARC said, "Fishing mortality should be kept low to minimize the risk of further decline in stock size and to protect the 1999 and 2001 year classes."

    SARC scientists also urged managers to establish appropriate biological and fishing mortality reference points for the stock, which ASMFC is in the process of doing through Amendment 1 to the interstate shrimp plan.