Conflicts of interest mar U.S. fishing councils

WASHINGTON – The eight regional councils that govern the nation’s fisheries are stocked with members who make their livings from the industry they oversee, complicating efforts to stop overfishing, a report issued this week concluded.

The study, done by Stanford University’s Fisheries Policy Project, said conflicts of interest within the management councils are primarily responsible for the continued decline in fish populations.

“Since 1985, 80 to 90 percent of the members represent fishing interests, and 60 percent have a direct financial interest in the fisheries they manage,” said Lee Crockett executive director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network.

William Hogarth, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency that oversees the councils, acknowledged that conflicts have been an issue. But he said things have changed for the better in the past two years.

“We do need to look at membership on the councils,” Hogarth said Wednesday, adding that more representatives from environmental groups and the tourism industry could be included. “But we should still have the commercial and recreational fishermen” who are experts in their field, Hogarth said.

The problem, said environmentalists and study experts, is that council members must make decisions on fishing quotas that directly affect how much fish they can take in their commercial and recreational businesses.

Hogarth unveiled his own conservation review Thursday, saying he prefers to see the “glass half full.”

“It’s not all doom and gloom,” he said. “We need to rebuild fish stocks and the system makes it very tough … Overall the councils have done a good job.”

He noted that the NMFS has to review and approve anything the councils decide, but added, “maybe in the past we haven’t done that as best as we should.” And he said federal officials are trying to find innovative ways to address overfishing and rebuilding stocks.

But environmental groups said the councils have made little progress in the past 25 years. According to the Stanford study, more than a third of the nation’s fish stocks are overfished, leading to depletion of species including cod on the East Coast and rockfish on the West Coast.

The study, commissioned by the Pew Charitable Trusts, recommends broader representation on the councils and stricter rules on whether members can vote if they have a conflict of interest. It also recommended that the federal government make quota decisions and then let the councils decide how much of that take should go to the recreational and commercial industries.