Dr. Ellen Pikitch:

Let me try to address the point the Deputy is making. Nothing that I have said states, "Do not fish the pelagic fish." We are not saying, "Do not fish them." However, our message is that they should not be fished as hard as conventional fisheries management strategies would have recommended in the past. That is good advice. We are saying go ahead and fish the species but do it in a way that will result in more robust pelagic species which will mean the industry with be less prone to collapse. One does not want the pelagic fisheries to go between boom and bust. One wants people to be able to make a living and count on it year in and year out. That is a good reason to be a little more careful and to fish less hard on that group of fish than conventional guidance would have you do in the past.

The stock of some species of demersal fish is very depleted but they can recover. I hope they will recover and with the new Common Fisheries Policy coming into effect, some of the demersal fish species can recover as quickly as the pelagic stocks. I can give examples of what happened in the US with species of fish I am familiar with. There was a five-year moratorium on fishing striped bass in the United States and this brought the species back. They are now as abundant as they ever have been. In regard to swordfish, it took international negotiations to get a ten-year rebuilding plan agreed to at ICCAT, with which I am sure members are familiar.

The North Atlantic swordfish populations have recovered and that was achieved in ten years. More recently we have had an issue with the summer flounder, which are very important demersal fish, not only as a commercial but sport fish. The summer flounder numbers were very depressed but they have recovered.

These other species will recover and as they recover they will need to eat. They are going to be hungry. One will have to leave enough of the pelagic species. I do not think one needs to stop fishing. We are just saying, to be more careful and in the long run one will have more fish to catch, one will have a more robust industry and healthier ecosystems. One will make more money too.