US summer flounder and spiny dogfish declared rebuilt after target changes
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Two US fish stocks, summer flounder and spiny dogfish, were declared rebuilt after their reference points were changed. The summer flounder stock was later found below its revised target, so the rebuilt label followed the rule as much as the fish.
What happened
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's 2012 summary records that the summer flounder target was lowered in 2008 on new information about natural mortality, and that the stock was declared rebuilt in 2011.
The same sources give a 2010 stock mass of 60,238 t against a target of 60,074 t.
They also report that a 2019 assessment placed the stock below its new target, with its 2017 mass at 78% of that target.
A Federal Register notice of 24 June 2010 declared spiny dogfish rebuilt on updated status criteria, setting a new target of 159,288 t and lowering the fishing mortality target from 0.28 to 0.207.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record Not stated: who gained from the rebuilt status, such as fishing interests or the managers themselves.
- None on record Not stated: the status of either stock after 2019.
- None on record The sources mention an unnamed stock that was also declared rebuilt through a reference point change; it is not named and no figures are given.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Summer flounder 2012 executive summary (MAFMC)Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council · 2012
- Saltwater Sportsman report cited for the summer flounder rebuildingSaltwater Sportsman ·
- Federal Register notice, 24 June 2010 (spiny dogfish)Federal Register · 2010-06-24