The recommendations and conclusions of these working
groups are synthesized as follows:
Need For Rockfish Refugia. There was general consensus that marine harvest
refugia exemplify a precautionary approach to the management and conservation
of rockfish resources on the west coast. It was recognized that, while there
are limits to our scientific knowledge of rockfish ecology, we have sufficient
understanding of the problems associated with their management and conservation
to proceed with the process of implementing refugia. The goals and objectives
of establishing harvest refugia and the problems being addressed by this
process must be clearly defined at the onset of planning. The expected level
of success and how it will be evaluated should be established prior to refugia
implementation.
Key Problems in Managing Rockfish Populations and Associated Expectations
of Refugia. Marine harvest refugia are one of the few constructive ways
to address protection and conservation of essential fish habitat, and offer
the opportunity for habitat to recover from disturbances including impacts
from fishing gear. Secondly, there are currently no effective management
practices to deal with infrequent recruitment and its interdecadal variability,
which are exhibited by rockfishes. Refugia hold promise in addressing this
problem by allowing researchers to separate environmental variables from
fishery effects. Further, current rockfish assemblage management can result
in serial overfishing and overfishing on the weakest stocks. Refugia will
allow us to incorporate ecosystem principles into fisheries assemblage management.
Refugia also provide the needed baseline data for more accurate stock assessments.
Design Considerations For Rockfish Refugia. Three different scenarios
for developing rockfish harvest refugia were recommended, based on the goals
and objectives for establishing the refugia. These scenarios range from
small no-take heritage sites used for research and to protect key habitats
and species to large harvest refugia used for sustainable fisheries management.
Each scenario includes different design characteristics and subsequent levels
of protection. These distinct scenarios provide greatly different benefits.
A coastwide system of marine refugia could include all three levels of resource
protection.
Considerations of Stakeholders. It was agreed that stakeholders need
to be identified early in the process of implementing rockfish refugia.
Stakeholders clearly need to be involved in identifying the reasons for
establishing the refugia, and in conceptualizing, designing, implementing
and evaluating them. A network among all those involved in the refugia process
should consider interstate and international issues of rockfish resource
management.
Compliance and Enforcement. Public education should reinforce compliance
and help lessen the need for enforcement, but enforcement will be necessary
and should be considered in the design and implementationprocess. Assignment
of property rights, which would encourage fishermen to take a personal interest
in the protection of the refuge, would foster compliance. Vessel-tracking-systems,
an attractive aid to enforcement, need to be considered. Planning should
carefully consider the range of needs and concerns, resources available,
and opportunities for cooperation among local, state, and federal entities
in promoting compliance and carrying out enforcement.
The proceedings of the workshop (papers on plenary presentations, conclusions and recommendations from the working groups, related abstracts) will be published as a NOAA Technical Memorandum. This document will serve to direct future research and managerial decisions regarding protection and conservation of rockfish resources, as well as to make specific recommendations on design attributes of refugia. While this workshop focused on west coast resources, the conclusions and recommendations will find application to harvest refugia, biodiversity, and habitat programs nationwide. This workshop has taken a proactive approach in addressing several critical elements of NOAA's Strategic Plan (e.g., Build Sustainable Fisheries; Coastal Ecosystem Health; Recover Protected Species), is relevant to NOAA's responsibilities for coastal ecosystem and living marine resources, and offers ways to protect and conserve essential fish habitat and implement ecosystem principles in fisheries management.
