Management Challenges in the Northeast Skate Fishery: A Data-Poor Species Complex

There are two traditional fisheries for skates in the Northeast U.S.:  A skate “wing” fishery which harvests large skate pectoral fins for domestic and foreign food markets, and a skate bait fishery which harvests small whole skates to supply bait to the region’s lobster fishery.  The New England Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries Service manage skates through the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan (Skate FMP).  The Skate FMP includes management measures for seven species, some of which are overfished and others that are not.  Each of these species have distinct distribution and life history patterns, however, catch is primarily reported as “unclassified skate”, hindering species-specific stock assessments and estimation of acceptable biological catch.  Due to the relatively low value of skate products, the majority of skate catch is discarded in the groundfish, monkfish, and scallop fisheries.  Discard mortality rates are uncertain.  Recent changes to the Skate FMP have been implemented to rebuild overfished skates and implement an annual catch limit for the complex, which for the first time will constrain total annual skate catch.  However, due to the absence of measures to reduce skate bycatch and discards in other fisheries, the directed skate fishery bears the burden of the necessary catch reductions through losses of landing opportunities.  In order to improve efficiency in the utilization of skate resources, measures are needed to reduce discard mortality, and research is needed to support more species-specific management.  This will promote more optimal harvest of sustainable stocks, while protecting those stocks that require rebuilding.  Research priorities and potential alternative management strategies are presented.