Conservation Status
According to scientific data, the Atlantic wolffish's population has decreased drastically due to overfishing and bycatch. Bottom-trawling vessels also disrupt the wolffish's rocky underwater habitat when they drag large nets across the ocean floor, with heavy weights holding the nets to the ocean bottom. The nets are indiscriminate in what they catch and the heavy weights and nets are harmful to the benthic terrain and its inhabitants. Recreational fishing has also threatened the survival of the Atlantic wolffish.
According to data compiled by the National Marine Fisheries Service, since 1983, the landings from U.S. fishing vessels of Atlantic wolffish as bycatch has declined 95%, landing 64.7 metric tons (mt) in 2007. In 1950, when the NMFS started collecting their data, 1,098 mt of Atlantic wolffish were landed, worth $137,008. In 1970, 271.2 mt; the landings peaked in 1983 at 1,207 mt, bringing in $455,291; rapidly depleting again and by 1990 the landings were down to 400 mt, and by 2002, 154 mt. The last available data from the NMFS were in 2007 at 64.7 mt, worth a total of $100,341.
Currently, the Atlantic wolffish is categorized as a Species of Concern under the National Marine Fisheries Service. Species of Concern are those species about which the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA).
On October 1, 2008, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), along with Dr. Erica Fuller and Dr. Les Watling, petitioned the US NMFS for the protection of the Atlantic wolffish under the ESA. The petition called for the protection of the Atlantic wolffish and wolffish habitat throughout the US northwest Atlantic waters. It recommended a designation of critical habitat be set up to close off both commercial and recreational fishing in those areas (which would overlap closed areas for various other fishing industries for the benefit of fishermen), the development of catch and release protocols, educational programs for fishermen in the Gulf of Maine area, and possession prohibitions. On January 1, 2009 the NMFS announced a positive 90-day finding that the petition was warranted, which triggered the initiation of a status review which will result in a decision on whether to list the species under the ESA. On November 6, 2009, the NMFS issued a finding that the proposed protections were not warranted.
Read more about this topic: Atlantic Wolffish
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