- Email: [email protected]
Biology, harvesting, management and conservation of hakes
Fisheries Research 114 (2012) 1
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Fisheries Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fishres
Preface
Biology, harvesting, management and conservation of hakes Pingguo He a,∗ , Christopher Glass b , John Annala c , Steve Cadrin a , Kenneth La Valley d , Michael Pol e a
School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 706 South Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford, MA 02744, USA Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA c Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04102, USA d Cooperative Extension, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA e Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, 1213 Purchase St - 3rd Floor, New Bedford, MA 02740, USA b
Hakes are an important group of fish in terms of landings from fisheries as well as ecological functions. In the Northwest Atlantic, hake fisheries have been a significant component of fisheries since the 1950s. Despite their importance, they have received relatively little attention within the scientific and management communities. Many of the species in the group are considered “data-poor” species for stock assessment and ecosystem-based management. It has been a challenge to identify robust biological and management reference points for stock rebuilding, fit hake data into traditional stock models, prevent bycatch in hake fisheries and hake bycatch in other fisheries, and even identify different hake species in the field and in the market. The papers in this volume synthesize new and previously unpublished research as presented at the symposium “Hake 2010: International Symposium on the Biology, Harvesting, Management and Conservation of Hakes”, held in Portland, Maine, USA, May 11–12, 2010. The symposium was hosted by the University of New Hampshire and Gulf of Maine Research Institute and was funded by the Northeast Consortium. The organizing committee included the following members who also moderated sessions: Christopher Glass and Kenneth La Valley (University of New Hampshire), Pingguo He and Steve Cadrin (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth), John Annala (Gulf of Maine Research Institute), David Goethel (F/V “Ellen Dianne”), and Michael Pol (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries). Pingguo He and Christopher Glass were co-conveners
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 508 910 6323. E-mail address: [email protected] (P. He). 0165-7836/$ – see front matter © 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2011.12.007
of the symposium, and chairs of the local organizing committee. Hake 2010 drew fifty attendees from regions that have significant hake fisheries, including the US east and west coasts, Chile, and Spain. About fifteen participants were New England fishermen and gear manufacturers with the remainder students, scientists, and managers. The participation of New England fishermen reflects the importance of hakes to northwest Atlantic fisheries: white hake (Urophycis tenuis) that is managed as part of the large mesh groundfish complex, and red hake (Urophycis chuss), silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis), and offshore hake (Merluccius albidus) that are part of a small-mesh fishery and managed through area and gear restrictions. The symposium focused on biology, ecology, population dynamics, and bycatch issues in hake fisheries around the world. It was held at a critical time because the hake stocks were scheduled to undergo a major stock assessment and management process in the Northeastern United States as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries management and Conservation Act. The presentations, collaborative conversations and discussions held at Hake 2010 provided a significant boost to hake fisheries management by deepening their understanding of differences and similarities in widely separate stocks, insights into historic populations and stock rebuilding, stock structure and dynamics, hake fisheries and bycatch. This volume is composed of seven selected papers from Hake 2010 that describe these developments.
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Fisheries Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fishres
Preface
Biology, harvesting, management and conservation of hakes Pingguo He a,∗ , Christopher Glass b , John Annala c , Steve Cadrin a , Kenneth La Valley d , Michael Pol e a
School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 706 South Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford, MA 02744, USA Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA c Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04102, USA d Cooperative Extension, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA e Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, 1213 Purchase St - 3rd Floor, New Bedford, MA 02740, USA b
Hakes are an important group of fish in terms of landings from fisheries as well as ecological functions. In the Northwest Atlantic, hake fisheries have been a significant component of fisheries since the 1950s. Despite their importance, they have received relatively little attention within the scientific and management communities. Many of the species in the group are considered “data-poor” species for stock assessment and ecosystem-based management. It has been a challenge to identify robust biological and management reference points for stock rebuilding, fit hake data into traditional stock models, prevent bycatch in hake fisheries and hake bycatch in other fisheries, and even identify different hake species in the field and in the market. The papers in this volume synthesize new and previously unpublished research as presented at the symposium “Hake 2010: International Symposium on the Biology, Harvesting, Management and Conservation of Hakes”, held in Portland, Maine, USA, May 11–12, 2010. The symposium was hosted by the University of New Hampshire and Gulf of Maine Research Institute and was funded by the Northeast Consortium. The organizing committee included the following members who also moderated sessions: Christopher Glass and Kenneth La Valley (University of New Hampshire), Pingguo He and Steve Cadrin (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth), John Annala (Gulf of Maine Research Institute), David Goethel (F/V “Ellen Dianne”), and Michael Pol (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries). Pingguo He and Christopher Glass were co-conveners
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 508 910 6323. E-mail address: [email protected] (P. He). 0165-7836/$ – see front matter © 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2011.12.007
of the symposium, and chairs of the local organizing committee. Hake 2010 drew fifty attendees from regions that have significant hake fisheries, including the US east and west coasts, Chile, and Spain. About fifteen participants were New England fishermen and gear manufacturers with the remainder students, scientists, and managers. The participation of New England fishermen reflects the importance of hakes to northwest Atlantic fisheries: white hake (Urophycis tenuis) that is managed as part of the large mesh groundfish complex, and red hake (Urophycis chuss), silver hake (Merluccius bilinearis), and offshore hake (Merluccius albidus) that are part of a small-mesh fishery and managed through area and gear restrictions. The symposium focused on biology, ecology, population dynamics, and bycatch issues in hake fisheries around the world. It was held at a critical time because the hake stocks were scheduled to undergo a major stock assessment and management process in the Northeastern United States as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries management and Conservation Act. The presentations, collaborative conversations and discussions held at Hake 2010 provided a significant boost to hake fisheries management by deepening their understanding of differences and similarities in widely separate stocks, insights into historic populations and stock rebuilding, stock structure and dynamics, hake fisheries and bycatch. This volume is composed of seven selected papers from Hake 2010 that describe these developments.