In its report the federal government mentioned that it has succeeded in curbing the over-consumption as seven stocks dropped off the overfishing list but the authorities are still nabbing more as overfishing is still going on. The study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) distinguishes between overfishing (catching more fish than is sustainable) and stocks that are overfished (the fish population size is below goals set in management plans).
According to the study 41 out of 244 stocks (17 percent) were subject to overfishing, a slight improvement from 2006. It also shows that 45 out of 190 stocks (24 percent) were below their population targets, which is also a slight improvement. In north and south monkfish, winter skate are no long experiencing overfishing. There are Gulf of Mexico red grouper; petrale sole; yellowfin tuna from the Central Western Pacific; and Atlantic bigeye tuna experiencing no overfishing. Marine Fish Conservation Network credits NOAA for its modest success saying that in some cases the improvements come from playing a numbers game:
From 2004 efforts toward eliminating overfishing and restoring overfished populations has been relatively flat. At that time the fisheries service administratively reduced the number of species under its management by lumping many populations into single complexes. As per the report most of the managers of fishing companies least know about the status of over 50 percent of marine fish populations.
Jim Balsiger, NOAA acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service, told that ending overfishing on these stocks and preventing overfishing from occurring on others is critical to maintaining and rebuilding US fishing stocks.
