Oregon Public Broadcasting

The West Coast bottom-fish catch is classified among the most sustainable in ten global regions. Correspondent Tom Banse reports on a study on overfishing published Friday in the journal Science.

Twenty-one scientists on five continents reevaluated a projected collapse of ocean seafood fishing globally.

Their paper includes encouraging signs of rebound in some depleted fish populations.

The bottom fish fishery on the U.S. West Coast offers one of the best examples. The director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association Rod Moore says it's nice to get credit for painful fleet reductions and area closures.

Rod Moore: “A lot of the management measures that we were taking, and we started putting some severe restrictions in about 1997. We started seeing it turnaround I would say within five years.”

Moore says lingcod stocks rebuilt especially rapidly after the fishing rate was reduced. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, overfishing continues on only two West Coast species: yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna.

Moore says both of these wide-ranging fish are heavily targeted by other countries.

Online:

Science Magazine