OUTER BANKS, N.C. — When it comes to being a fisherman, it's about much more than getting out on the water and bringing home fresh seafood. There are regulations that come into play to prevent overfishing populations in North Carolina waters.
But over the years, fishermen have questioned the stock assessments that lead to restrictions on their catch, feeling they see plenty of the regulated fish out on the water throughout the year.
"They manage us based on the results of a stock assessment. The last thing you want is for somebody to come back and say, oops, we were wrong. They put you out of work, you couldn't send your kid to college, you couldn't pay your mortgage," said Glenn Skinner, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association.
Skinner is a lifetime fisherman and one of a handful to voice concerns in person about stock assessments to the Marine Fisheries Commission in late February in the Outer Banks, saying the regulations impact the everyday fisherman's bottom line.
Matt Damiano is the stock assessment program manager at the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. Damiano explained some of what goes into a stock assessment.
"Ultimately the mission is to try and build a model that represents our fishery management system. So, the fisheries that are operating, as well as the natural system that produces fish and invertebrates, and then we try to fit that model to the data that we collect directly from the fishery. These are things like landings, length compositions, so how large those fishes that are landed or crabs that are landed are, as well as from our scientific survey programs. We collect information on catch rates. Similarly, we collect length, composition, we age many of those animals, at least the fishes, where we can take the ear bones out and count the rings inside," said Damiano.
News 3 asked Damiano about the frustration and distrust from fishermen.
"That's a very valid concern to raise, and I definitely recognize the fishing community's frustration," said Damiano.
Two of the fisheries that fishermen have told News 3 they are most concerned about are blue crab and southern flounder, whose most recent stock assessments both failed peer review in the past few years. Damiano says he and his staff are working to bring new tools into the stock assessments for these fisheries, like using multiple models in the process.
"I've been working hard with my assessment scientists to develop some new tools for both blue crab and southern flounder," Damiano said. "Another thing I firmly believe in is building in some contingencies within the stock assessment process, and that entails looking at multiple model configurations. So that way, if you do run into an issue where your model just can't fit the data, you may have some alternative to fall back to where it actually works," said Damiano.
What fishermen want to see is their voices heard in stock assessments like these in the future.
"Talk more openly about the uncertainties with the stock assessment, about any misgivings or concerns that you might have, and that's what we're hoping for down the road. I think that's the only way you're going to get stakeholder buy in on management, is to start from that level and include us in those conversations," said Skinner.
Damiano says he's committed to doing that.
"We want to be able to build those pathways of communication with the stock assessment program and the fishing community. We want to be able to build that trust and we want folks to be able to, at the end of the day, understand better how stock assessment works, so that we can work together toward developing the best model possible," said Damiano.
Because at the end of the day, it's not just a job for these fishermen — it's their way of life.
"They're managing your livelihood with it," said Skinner.
Damiano says though leadership at the Division of Marine Fisheries and the Marine Fisheries Commission ultimately make the policy and regulatory decisions, the impact the data that his staff presents is always on their minds.
"It is on our mind all the time that the results of these models is going to have real world effects. What we're trying to do is be honest brokers of information about what the data are telling us about how the population is doing and what the effects of fishing on the population may be," said Damiano.
