Mid-Atlantic Fishery Managers Should Close the Circle to Protect Two Key Forage Species

Like all forage fish, bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel spend a significant portion of their lives trying to outmaneuver swift predators such as wahoo and blue marlin. And in a healthy marine ecosystem with appropriate catch limits on fishing, enough escape or are eaten to support both the pursuers and the pursued. But with no catch limits in place for bullet and frigate mackerel, the populations of these forage fish are at risk. Fortunately, that pattern is about to change: A vote last week by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council brought these little-known fish a step closer to effective protection.

Better science through … fishing tournaments?

Bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel are found along the U.S. Atlantic coast, in offshore waters. Although they are not generally targeted by commercial or even recreational fishermen—though some do catch them in small numbers for use as bait—they are hunted by trophy fish. In fact, trophy fish such as wahoo, blue marlin, tuna, and dolphinfish have played a major role in understanding the importance of bullet and frigate mackerel. As part of data collected at tournaments, including the Big Rock Tournament in North Carolina, one of the biggest on the East Coast for wahoo, blue marlin, tuna, and dolphinfish, scientists have examined the stomach contents of the fish landed during the tournament for decades. They found that bullet and frigate mackerel were a main dish for many predators—and in fact comprise up to 50% of wahoo’s diet in this region.

The real risk of overexploitation

Although that science made clear bullet and frigate mackerel’s role as prey, fishery managers still had to decide how to protect them. The nation’s primary fishing law, the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, does not proactively protect fish that aren’t directly targeted by fishermen. That means that if, for instance, an industrial-scale fishing operation decided to target bullet and frigate mackerel, fishery managers would be in a reactive mode, scrambling to come up with rules and catch limits after commercial fishing had begun. That could leave the species vulnerable to overfishing for years before rules took effect, which in turn could put entire ecosystems at risk.

And the threat is not just theoretical. In 2013, industrial trawlers in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic faced a poor year for squid, which they normally target, so turned their focus to chub mackerel (a relative of bullet and frigate mackerel). In one year, the amount caught went from negligible to more than 5 million pounds—all without rules or limits to govern the catch. When the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council discovered this, they put in place temporary catch limits on chub mackerel and began creating a plan to manage the  fishery. They also went further by creating a precautionary approach to what they called unmanaged forage fish to prevent the same problem from developing with other species.

Strong support for conservation

But protecting bullet and frigate mackerel in particular is proving elusive. The Mid-Atlantic Council included  them on the initial list of unmanaged forage fish species that would gain protection, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) removed them from the list, saying the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council should manage these fish because it already has oversight—for the entire U.S. Atlantic seaboard—of wahoo, a key predator of bullet and frigate mackerel. So, we encouraged the South Atlantic Council to pick up the mantle to protect bullet and frigate mackerel from fishing pressure that could emerge.

Last year, the South Atlantic Council sought public comment on the importance of these fish and every one of the nearly 150 people and groups answering the call supported protecting bullet and frigate mackerel, including a leading scientist and a recreational fisherman who wrote a compelling column in Sport Fishing magazine.

A conservation hot potato

This spring, the South Atlantic Council learned that its plan to protect bullet and frigate mackerel would not be possible, because of NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office’s interpretation of the law. To extend protections, the agency argued, the council would need to start from scratch by creating a new management plan for both species or create its own version of the Mid-Atlantic’s unmanaged forage fish amendment.

While the South Atlantic Council considers its options for the future, the Mid-Atlantic Council can take action to safeguard these fish now. Because the South Atlantic Council voted to identify bullet and frigate mackerel as “ecosystem component” species—basically, validating that they are important prey to other, managed species—the Mid-Atlantic Council now has the justification it needs to add them to the list of species covered by its 2017 unmanaged forage fish amendment. Last week, the South Atlantic Council officially signaled it would like its neighboring council to the north to take this action. This option isn’t perfect, because bullet and frigate mackerel would remain unprotected in South Atlantic Council waters, but they would gain protection from threats in the Mid-Atlantic.

The Mid-Atlantic Council should take the final step

With the South Atlantic Council’s request on the table, the Mid-Atlantic Council is in an ideal position to complete the circle. When managers meet next month to set their priorities for 2021, they should add protecting bullet and frigate mackerel to their list. In the simplest and swiftest conclusion, the Mid-Atlantic Council could, over the course of two meetings, ensure bullet and frigate mackerel are added to the list of protected forage fish. The Atlantic coast’s fishing community—and its food web—would be on a better foundation for the future.

Joseph Gordon is a director and Lora Clarke and Zack Greenberg are officers with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ campaign to protect marine life on the U.S. East Coast.