Senior Portfolio: 2013-14 

Cailean Demmon

HP Biology

8/30/12

Recommended Action for the Fishery

     There is controversy on the issue of the closure of the Purple-spotted Flatfish Fishery. Some feel that the fishery should remain closed and some feel it should reopen. I feel that the fishery should remain closed unless restrictions are put in place. The reasons I feel this because the Purple-spotted Flatfish has a smaller population, the water transparency has fallen, and the examples of other overfished species.

     During the years of 1990 to 2000, the Purple-spotted Flatfish had a huge, constant drop in population. They went from a population of 10,000 to a couple hundred in 10 years. By 2008, the population rose to 4,000. These 4,000 fish now only lay their eggs on the eastern coast of Bayside Island and the southern coast of Bayside. The fishing would destroy 20 kilometers of the Purple-spotted Flatfish’s 70 km of spawning habitat. The population would drop, again.

     The water quality of the water surrounding Bayside dropped during the years that the fishery was open. The water transparency went from 2 meters, in 1995, to .5 meters, in 2000. Thankfully, the water transparency rose to 1.2 meters in 2008. If the fishery reopened, the phytoplankton would have a harder time getting sun for photosynthesis. The ecosystem would start to collapse because the phytoplankton are the base of the food web in Bayside’s waters. The Purple-spotted Flatfish population would decline quicker and be unable to rise as fast.  

     Overfishing has not just affected the Purple-spotted Flatfish. Fish from across the world are negatively affected by it, one such fish is the Atlantic Halibut.  The overfishing of the species has made it so it is unlikely to recover in the near future. This lasted from the 1800s, when, according to Captain Epes Merchant, “vessels could catch 50,000 pounds of fish in two days” to now, when, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, a holder of a Commercial Fishing license may only catch 25 Atlantic Halibut per year.  This massive drop in catches shows that population of the Atlantic Halibut has fallen dramatically due to overfishing. The overfishing of the Atlantic Halibut is connected to the overfishing of the Purple-spotted Flatfish because it shows that restrictions must be put in place if an overfished fish can be fished.

     There are negative side effects to keeping the Purple-spotted Flatfish Fishery. The fishery was a cornerstone of Bayside’s economy. The closure caused a massive drop in employed residents. Many residents have left Bayside due to unemployment. A closed fishery would cause these numbers to worsen.

     The Purple-spotted Flatfish has been overfished. The reopening of the fishery would cause the decline and possible extinction of the Purple-spotted Flatfish and an increase of water pollution However, a reopened fishery would cause Bayside’s employment rate and population to rise, again, to pre-closure levels. That’s why, like the Atlantic Halibut, the fishery needs to be reopened again with severe restrictions. This would allow Bayside and the Purple-spotted Flatfish to flourish.