Abstract

A deepwater (> 300 m) demersal fishery developed off the southeastern U.S. in the 1980s, targeting wreckfish (Polyprion americanus) in sponge-coral and hard-bottom habitat. Declining populations and increasing regulations in shallow-water fisheries provided incentive for fishermen to develop alternatives. Rapid expansion in the wreckfish fish-ery led to a management plan that includes gear restrictions, a spawning closure, an annual catch limit and individual quotas for the commercial fishery. The plan was amended recently to include a bag limit, seasonal closure and annual catch limit for the recreational sector. U.S. management has resulted in a small sustainable fishery for wreckfish, in contrast to other parts of its wide range where the fishery has collapsed. Several species that are economically important in other parts of the world are caught with wreckfish in the U.S. but no management has been developed for them, as they are considered bycatch. Blackbelly rosefish (Helicolenus dactylopterus), red bream (Beryx decadactylus) and barrelfish (Hyperoglype perciformis) are, like wreckfish, desirable species that grow slowly and are long-lived (30, 69, 85 and 78 years, respectively). Because of their biology and limited habitat, they can be easily overfished. Genetic studies on some of these species show connectivity between the U.S. and other areas of the world where they are fished in target-ed fisheries. Those fisheries could result in depletion of U.S. stocks if local recruitment is dependent on distant popula-tions. Regional management should be developed for the U.S. that considers all of the species landed and fisheries in other parts of their range.

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