Comment from Peter F

Regulating the silver hake, red hake, and offshore hake stocks would be a beneficial element for the future of the New England fisheries. The silver hake has been on the decline since the 1970’s and is now at an all time low. According to NOAA “The autumn survey biomass index has fluctuated over the years, but has continuously declined since 1998, and is at a low of 1.95 kg/tow in 2005. In 2005, the 3-year average exploitation index for 2003-2005 was below the FMSY proxy and the 3-year average biomass index remained above the ½ BMSY proxy, indicating that the stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.” If management of this fishery does not take place then we could see a significant decline in the silver hake population in the recent future. The red hake is in the same management future as the silver hake. “Landings have since declined to a historical low in 2005. In 2005, the exploitation index was well below the FMSY proxy of 0.65 and the 3-year average biomass index remained above the ½ BMSY proxy, indicating that the stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.” The red and silver hake should have some type of regulations to prevent over fishing from ever occurring. This will also bring this fishery in line with the rules of the Magnuson-Stevenson Act. The delayed action of the New England Fishery Council should signal a move of NMFS to take positive action.