The Uncertain Future of Pelagic Species

The Uncertain Future of Pelagic Species:

and the “Conservation” Failing Them

Justin P. Saginor

Stockton University

GEN 2240003: Introduction to Research

Dr. Joseph Costal

March 6, 2023
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Most people on this planet spend almost all their livesfe with their two feet planted firmly

on land spending very little time on the water that covers 73% of earth. However, there are a

select few people that are blessed enough to be able to spend significant time off land and out on

the water. Throughout the summer, people find themselves taking cruises around lakes, bays or

nearshore maritime waters. In the summer, water bodies become an oasis in which children can

play and adults can relax. However, there is another side to the oceans that even fewer people get

to experience and that is where I find myself most days. Way off the coast of New Jersey, where

land is nothing but a distant memory; this is where I go to be free.

My entire life I have been an avid fisherman. Like any hobby fishing develops in stages.

First you’ll start small on a lake fishing with your grandparents, then you and your friends might

start walking along the beaches or going on party boats for fathers day. Then you and your

friends grow up, get a little bit of dough in your pocket and decide it’s time to take this hobby to

the next level. If you’re lucky enough, you get to buy a boat and begin to venture out onto the

open ocean. If you are as blessed as I am you can find a career in which your true passion

becomes your lifetime job. Running a tackle shop for the past four years has allowed me to go

fishing with some of the most remarkable fishermen along the East Coast on some of the most

pristine vessels anywhere in the world. When you are fishing with individuals who are as

remarkable as the river monsters guy, or on boats as jaw dropping as Michael Jordan's 74 ft

sportfishing boat….. you are not going fishing for small game. You are going to hunt the vast

open oceans for the Apex predators. Such as Yellowfin Tuna, Swordfish, Wahoo, Marlin, Shark,

and my favorite Bluefin Tuna. These are just some of the species that are part of a larger group

called the pelagic species.

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A pelagic species is defined as any species of fish that does not inhabit the upper section

of the water column or any nearshore locations (Game, 2009). These plegic species are some of

the most economically significant fish in the world. They also make up a vast majority of the

biomass collected from the ocean. These highly migratory species are highly sought after due to

the expensive price tag that comes from their culinary value. With the promise of a big paycheck,

people are willing to break the law to get what they want. I believe that there needs to be more

adequate conservation policy and regulations for the harvesting of the species in partnership with

a stronger enforcement of those laws and policies. Things need to change drastically to ensure

the survival of these species and the way of life that comes with them. According to the

Unreported Discards of protected species Species like these that are so sought after for hundreds

of years have faced significant stressors and overharvesting of their individuals (Mucientes,

2022). These large pelagic species migrate all across the world’s oceans and have very long life

histories. When species have a very long life history they will take longer to reproduce than a

fish that is only expected to live a couple of years (Mucientes, 2022). If a bluefin tuna can only

repopulate after reaching an age of eight to twelve years old, that fish needs to be insured that

they can live past the age of eight in order to re-populate to keep a healthy population. If

populations are not kept in check, then a total crash of the fishery can and will occur.

Many of these pelagic species are on the endangered species list due to the long time

overharvesting and complete disregard to the fisheries maximum sustainable yield. A term used

to define the amount of a species you can talk about is referred to as the maximum sustainable

yield it refers to the total amount of biomass that can be harvested from a certain species fishery,

this term is further explained in the paper titled Study of the catch… (Pan, 2022). This maximum

sustainable yield is a relative value; any value that is taking less than that max value means that
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there is enough fish to reproduce and hold a steady or increasing population (Pan, 2022). If

harvest over that maximum sustainable yield is taken, the population is in the negative and there

will be a population structure collapse. Over the years lots of different environmental policies

and conservation regulations have been put into place. These policies and conservation

regulations set strict boundaries and guidelines in regards to the harvesting of these pelagic

species. Policy and conservation law is a complex subcategory of environmental law. As

previously stated many of these pelagic species are highly sought after due to their economic

values (Mucientes, 2022). To ensure a healthy fishery in which fishermen who rely on them for

fiscal value are able to thrive while the species are also able to thrive, many continuing studies

need to take place. Continuous studies of these highly migratory species is hard because they

travel through different nations' waters over long distances which makes them hard to quantify.

Every one of these pelagic species has a different set of conservation regulations

regarding their harvest. But in general conservation restrictions can be broken up into two large

categories (Robison, 2009). There are conservation regulations for commercial fisheries that

harvest large numbers of these species to sell on the open market. There are also conservation

regulations for recreational fisheries in which people harvest these fish recreationally for

personal consumption and sport. Within these two sub categories, regulations follow a similar

pattern. First a fish needs to be within a certain size range because that size range correlates to

the fish's age and its ability to reproduce. Smaller fish will likely not have had time to reach full

maturity, and will not have had the time to reproduce and keep a growing population. Certain

species also have regulations based upon the sex of the fish, if it is easily determined. Other

types of regulations include open and closed seasons for migration or reproduction or open and

close locations in which different zones are fished at different times to ensure an even amount of
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pressure on a certain fish stock (Robison, 2009). Many of these pelagic species that I am talking

about, can be found all around the world in different varieties of marine waters. A fish stock is

defined as any individual sub group of an individual species (Relano, 2022). For example, along

the east coast of the United States where I spend a primary amount of my time fishing, there is a

northern stock of bluefin tuna and a southern stock of bluefin tuna. Other species like Wahoo,

and Marlin that are not as common for the north only have one stock in which the US

government is in charge of.

The primary oversight committee for a majority of these conservation regulations is the

US fish and wildlife service in partnership with NOAA. This is the sole governing federal body

for all of the highly migratory species or any species on the endangered species list. Most states

also have their own regulations to ensure a thriving stock and a thriving financial fishery. As I

stated earlier in my thesis, these highly migratory species need to have better conservation and

regulatory policies to ensure the longevity of the species. A vast majority of the regulations that

are being enforced, have not changed in the past 20 years. Also, the regulations that are being

enforced, or not being forced to the full extent. The paper Pelagic fishing at 42,000 years before

the present and the maritime skills of modern humans infrared here is a large number of people

that are blatantly not following the federal or state guidelines and those numbers of people are

hurting the population structure in a lethal way (O’Conner, 2011). A large number of scientists

spent a long time back in the early 60s and 70s trying to get a better understanding of fisheries

science and management. During those times all of the world's oceans were fair game to any

other nation in the world. Overharvesting and species extinction was becoming a daily

occurrence after the industrial revolution and the invention of mechanical vessels. The federal
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government realized that resources and thus money is being lost and overharvested by other

nations so they created one of the first conservation policies in US history…

A 200 mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) was placed around the United States

meaning that no foreign nation was able to come within 200 miles of the continental United

States and harvest any species of fish with it. A large number of these pelagic species live within

this 200 mile economic exclusive zone because that is the area in which the continental shelf

covers; this single event was one of many covered in the paper Pelagic protected areas: the

missing dimension in ocean conservation (Game, 2009). The continental shelf extends

approximately 150 miles off the East Coast of the United States. All of the continental shelf

waters are generally shallow and allow light to penetrate to the bottom. The availability of light,

and the shallow water gives way to nutrients and life. This ability for primary production then

brings primary consumers, these primary consumers are then consumed by secondary and

tertiary consumers and then eventually the apex predators like the pelagic species. The

continental shelves are the most biologically productive parts of the ocean and home to most

pelagic species. I just wanted to explain why it was so important that the US government set up

this exclusive economic zone around the United States to protect its natural resources for itself.

Although the US government made sure that it was in charge of its plegic fisheries for itself. We

didn’t actually stop the issue. We just slowed it down and saved it for ourselves.

As previously stated the economic incentive to harvest the species and the privatized

domestic fishery area gave way to a boom in a domestic fishery for many of the species. When

the US government seT up a 200 mile exclusive economic zone, they thought that they had saved

the populations forever, little did they know that the worst was yet to come. New fisheries all

along the coastal United States, began to pop up going after any species they can in order to
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make some money. Population structures quickly started to decline and the government needed

to step up and do something new. They put in quotas and regulations based upon size, age and

time of year. But I argue that this is not enough. You can make laws all day about what you can,

and can’t do but who is going to be there to stop you?

Many of the conservation regulations or limitations to harvesting, are supported by the

judicial branches of state and federal government. Heavy fines, and jail times are associated with

those who break any of the regulations. If somebody was to harvest an illegal bluefin tuna, one

of the most “highly protected species” they would face $150,000 fine, the seizure of their boat or

whatever vessel they were on, the seizure of all their fishing gear, and up to 10 years in prison. It

all sounds like very serious repercussions to breaking the law and harvesting a single fish. In

complete transparency, it is all talk, and no bite. There is a serious shortage of enforcement on

these regulations. Those that get caught are usually examples, and they hope to fear others, who

seem to do what they did. But there’s not nearly enough conservation officers to enforce the laws

and regulations. It is hard to really get an idea of just the best side of the ocean and the areas that

we expect these conservation officers to watch and enforce the laws. There needs to be a better

way in which these regulations are enforced.

You cannot expect a conservation officer to monitor every boat out on the water, and

watch them as the reel in one of these thousand pound beasts. However there’s not a single boat

on this planet that can directly harvest a fish and sell it to the market without first coming to land.

The enforcement of these regulations needs to be overseen on the water, but enforced on land.

The federal government and state governments need to increase the funding for these

conservation officers, and employ more of them. I am currently going to school here at Stockton

University to secure my degree in environmental science, and then eventually become one of
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these conservation officers. I have a strong passion for the survival of these species. I do strongly

believe that there needs to be more adequate conservation policies and regulation for the

harvesting of these plegic species and all species in general. There also needs to be increased

enforcement of these laws and policies. We no longer can rely on the threat of action, action

needs to be taken before it’s too late.

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References

Game, E. T., Grantham, H. S., Hobday, A. J., Pressey, R. L., Lombard, A. T., Beckley, L.
E., ... & Richardson, A. J. (2009). Pelagic protected areas: the missing dimension in
ocean conservation. Trends in ecology & evolution, 24(7), 360-369.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534709000871
(Game, 2009)

Mucientes, G., Vendor, M., Sims, D. W., & Queiroz, N. (2022). Unreported discards of
internationally protected pelagic sharks in a global fishing hotspot are potentially large.
Biological Conservation, 269, 109534.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320722000878
(Mucientes, 2022)

O’Connor, S., Ono, R., & Clarkson, C. (2011). Pelagic fishing at 42,000 years before the
present and the maritime skills of modern humans. Science, 334(6059), 1117-1121.
https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1207703
(O’Conner, 2011)

Pan, B., Zhu, J., Lin, Q., Geng, Z., Wu, F., & Zhang, Y. (2022). Study on the catch,
bycatch and discard of Chinese pelagic longline fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean.
Aquaculture and Fisheries.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468550X22000569
(Pan, 2022)

Relano, V., & Pauly, D. (2022). Philopatry as a tool to define tentative closed migration
cycles and conservation areas for large pelagic fishes in the pacific. Sustainability, 14(9),
5577.
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5577
(Relano, 2022)

Robison, B. H. (2009). Conservation of deep pelagic biodiversity. Conservation Biology,

23(4), 847-858.
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01219.x
(Robison, 2009)