ESA Listing Filed to Protect Two More Puget Sound Rockfish Species

5/3/10 UPDATE: Petition filed on 4/2710 to list China and Tiger rockfish under Endangered Species Act protection. Read petition here.

People For Puget Sound Hails ESA Listing of Puget Sound Rockfish

4/29/10

The citizens’ group People For Puget Sound today hailed this week’s decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service to place three species of Puget Sound rockfish under Endangered Species Act protection as an important step towards recovery of all rockfish species in Puget Sound.

“Rockfish are as much indicative of the health of our Sound as our wild salmon and orca whales are and it’s long overdue that fishery managers step up to bring their populations back to sustainable levels,” said People For Puget Sound science director Doug Myers.

“We believe that by closing areas of the Sound to fishing, rockfish will have, over years, the chance to grow and reproduce to sustainable levels so that sport fishing can resume,” said Myers.

As a critical next step, Myers called on the state Fish & Wildlife agency to convene a work group of marine conservation scientists, tribes and stakeholders to delineate specific rockfish recovery areas in the Sound where fish harvest would be prohibited. It is expected that the federal Fisheries Service will also work quickly to put together critical habitat designations for the three listed species. These designations will help inform the creation of marine reserves and rockfish recovery zones.

“State Fish & Wildlife needs to exercise its authority to deny permits for activities that would degrade rockfish habitats. It now needs to enforce fishing regulations and establish a network of marine reserves and rockfish recovery areas sufficiently large enough to truly recover rockfish within Puget Sound," said Myers. “They’ll have our support to get that job done.”

See NOAA posting of the ESA decision here.

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Contact: Doug Myers, (360.754.9177)