Fish Losses Blamed On Overfishing State Report Urges Creating Underwater Refuges In Sound

Overfishing seems to be a primary cause for the decline of several Puget Sound fish populations, not just salmon, a new state report says.

To give the fish species a chance to recover, the report recommends creation of a network of underwater refuges where fishing would be off-limits.

“We want to create areas where these fish can reproduce successfully, and also protect the various habitats they need to complete their life cycles,” said Jim West, the state Fish and Wildlife Department biologist who spent a year compiling data and writing the report for a U.S. and Canadian task force.

Restrictions on recreational fishing already exist, but more severe limitations may be warranted, the report says.

“For some of these species, we fished them so heavily, we drove them down to very low levels … and they have been unable to rebound,” West said.

The report, released Monday, said salmon aren’t the only type of fish that are disappearing in Puget Sound.

The numbers of cod, rockfish, hake and pollock have also plunged in recent years, and some stocks may be on the verge of extinction, the study says.

Some sport fishermen say they aren’t surprised by the study’s findings.

“Their report is about 10 years too late,” said the operator of Capt. Jerry’s Charters, a Tacoma charter fishing operation.

Many sport fishermen have blamed the state for allowing commercial trawlers to harvest too many cod and pollock in the 1980s.

The idea of underwater refuges is being debated across the country. Top marine scientists, including Jane Lubchenco of Oregon State University, have estimated that up to 20 percent of the world’s oceans and bays should be protected.