Hilborn: Rebuilding Plans for Widow Rockfish Caused the Collapse of the Fishery
The June 12 article by Cassandra Profita misrepresents the history of the widow rockfish fishery and the lessons learned.
Widow rockfish was declared overfished in 2001, and the subsequent rebuilding of the species is cited by Ms. Profita as a great success of the management of US fisheries. From 1995 to 2001, annual widow catch averaged 6,600 MT. After the rebuilding plan was implemented, from 2003 to 2012, annual widow catch averaged 194 tons. What Ms. Profita and most media coverage ignore, is that by 2007...
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