Tag Archives: magnuson-stevens-act
Who gets the fish? Support H.R. 200 – The “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act”
Capt. Chuck Guilford has been searching the waters of the Gulf of Mexico for the bounty of the sea for 41 years. When Guilford started his career as charter boat captain and commercial fisherman there wasn’t a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and he said the fisherman handled the fishery themselves. Now Guilford feels as if he has no control. He used to go to the meetings of the NMFS as far away as Washington D.C., but he’s missed the last two. “I haven’t attended last two meetings because it was a waste of my dollars and my time,” Guilford said. “I have finally come to the conclusion after 10 years of attending meeting, that when the Marine Fisheries Council has a meeting they have already decided what they are going to do.” Some of Guilford’s concerns may soon be answered. The “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act” or H.R. 200 would amend the “Magnuson-Stevens Act” which is currently the law of the fisheries. The amendment would have NMFS take in account the economic costs of regulation, allow for greater community involvement, greater transparency in procedure and collected data, a limitation on future catch-share programs, and independent privately funded fish stock assessment to be used when available. click here to read this article, and contact your representative and TELL them to support HR 200 07:24
Snapper silliness still has anglers seeing red
The bumper sticker on the white Ford pickup truck could not have been more clear: “National Marine Fisheries Service: Destroying Fishermen and Their Communities Since 1976!” Poignant. Harsh, even. But tame by today’s standards. The sticker made me think of an issue affecting offshore bottom fishermen who depart inlets between the Treasure Coast and South Carolina. I’m no mathematician, but something fishy is going on with red snapper statistics. Red snapper, a larger cousin of mutton snapper and mangrove snapper, resides in waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It is presently off limits to harvest by east coast anglers, and has been since 2010. The reason? Because 10 years ago, fisheries statisticians determined that the red snapper fishery was “undergoing overfishing.” Along with “jumbo shrimp,” that expression is still one of my all-time favorite oxymorons. click to continue reading the story here 08:28
North Pacific council takes first step in creating salmon fishery management plan
A lot of new faces are coming to the table at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and not a lot of them are happy about it. Fishermen who had never previously been involved with the council now have to show up to have a hand in how their fisheries will be incorporated into a federal fishery management plan. The council, which regulates federal fisheries off the coast of Alaska, on Thursday started in on the topic of the salmon plan for Cook Inlet, part of the Alaska Peninsula and part of Prince William Sound near Cordova. After removing the three areas from the plan by amendment in 2011, effectively exempting them from federal oversight and delegating entirely to the state despite occurring partially in federal waters, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court ruled that the move was illegal. Now, the council is having to initiate the process of revising the salmon FMP to include the net areas, which is likely to take years. click to continue reading the article here 12:12
COASTAL CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Several private anglers and the Coastal Conservation Association, a group representing private anglers (collectively, CCA), appeal the district court’s summary judgment dismissal of their lawsuit, which challenged Amendment 40 to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan and the Final Rule implementing that amendment. Because we find that Amendment 40 is consistent with its organic statute and was properly devised and implemented, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court. This dispute centers on the management of the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. Read the complaint here 09:28
Trump presidency may bring changes to U.S. fishing laws
Previously unsuccessful efforts to reform the US’s main federal fishing law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, are positioned to move ahead under a Donald Trump administration. New efforts to amend the US Magnuson-Stevens Act are expected from the new Congress, leaving some in industry concerned with any move away from a law judged by many to have worked reasonably well for four decades. “Right now you might be looking at potential for a whole lot of changes and revisions,” said an Alaska-based source who wished to remain unnamed. “I would say there should be some anxiety about how far you go giving people flexibility that moves outside the scientific realm.” HR 1335 – One of the bill’s central provisions would have reformed Magnuson-Stevens’s mandatory 10-year stock rebuilding timeline, incorporating additional flexibility. Instead of formally defining all stocks in decline as “overfished”, Young’s amendment would allow the term “depleted” when the reason for a stock’s decline is due to depredation or other non-fishing factors. Read the story here 11:39
Victorious United Cook Inlet Drift Association file to vacate salmon rule
A Cook Inlet salmon plan will take a lot more work from federal managers in the next few years. The United Cook Inlet Drift Association, an industry group of salmon drift netters, has requested the U.S. District Court of Alaska to vacate a piece of fisheries policy they successfully sued to overturn after an appeal court ruling this past September.In the meantime, the old plan replacing the vacated plan will require some work. “Given the dire situation faced by UCIDA as a result of the federal government’s utter abdication of its (Magnuson-Stevens Act) responsibilities in this important fishery, the Proposed Judgment sought by UCIDA is immediately necessary,” according to the motion filed by UCIDA on Jan. 7. “It would ensure that the checks and balances guaranteed by the Act — including the requirement to use the best available science, to manage the fishery in accordance with the 10 national standards, and to achieve optimum yield — are provided to UCIDA and the fishery in the short term while NMFS works with the council to produce a new FMP.” A three judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with commercial fishing groups against a 2011 decision by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to remove several Alaska salmon fisheries from the FMP. Read the article here 08:03
Commercial Fishermen Question Obama’s Ocean ‘Monument’ Preserve
“All commercial fishing is excluded from the area, but fisheries in the top 10 to 20 feet, no way in the world they’re going to impact the bottom,” pointed out Nils Stolpe, communications director of the association. Such is the case for a lot of the Barnegat Light-based boats, he said, for example, longliners and some hook-and-line tuna boats. “They’re fishing 3 miles up above all of this on the ocean floor.” “Longliners are probably affected more than any of our other fisheries up there” by the declaration, said Ernie Panacek, general manager at Viking Village Commercial Seafood Producers in Barnegat Light. “Our bottom longlining boats and surface longlining for sword and tuna boats are going to be affected up there.” Golden tilefish is found on the bottom and tuna and sword on the surface, “and they’re banning all commercial fishing,” Panacek noted. “It’s not a big area, necessarily, but my biggest concern is an expansion of this national monument just like they did in Hawaii,” he added. Panacek said fishermen have done “extensive work” with the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Council and the Garden State Seafood Association to protect deep-sea coral reefs and sea mounts in the North Atlantic, and were awarded for it. “And now President Obama had to step ahead and do this; I don’t understand,” Panacek said. The federal Magnuson Stevens Act has been managing these areas “and they have been managed properly,” he said. Read the story here 17:47
The sensible changes needed for the Magnuson Stevens Act Reauthorization
A quote from the article Longstanding fisheries act doesn’t need changing says Hogarth and Murawski, click here “Much of our recent success has stemmed from quick action and firm timetables for rebuilding, and that approach has clearly worked.”
Dick Grachek writes, Well No, that’s not quite true… Allowable Catch Quotas are still shrinking each year for most fisheries in spite of NOAA’s declarations of eliminating “overfishing” because the stock population recovery is not living up to unrealistic timelines perhaps? And more than half of the local family fishing operations have been eliminated. Fishing ports along with shoreside support businesses are disappearing. So what exactly is the authors’ idea of having clearly worked? Read the rest here 13:41
NRDC Enviro: Obama Administration is on the verge of weakening the nations fisheries regulations!
The U.S. has been a global leader in confronting and effectively tackling the overexploitation of its ocean fisheries. While there’s work still be done—more than three dozen fish populations or stocks (out of 233) remain overfished—American fisheries today are among the most sustainable in the world. Yet, with the job unfinished, the Obama Administration is on the verge of weakening fisheries regulations. Last month, enviro 44 organizations wrote to the president opposing these rollbacks. The changes would represent the first significant weakening of the country’s ocean fisheries policy since 1996, when important conservation provisions were enacted into law. NOAA Fisheries, the agency that regulates U.S. fisheries, is proposing to revise the regulations that implement the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act—the nation’s ocean fisheries law—saying that this will give managers more flexibility to handle current fishery management challenges. Read the rest here 19:39 Read this, National Marine Fisheries Service Proposes Weakening Magnuson-Stevens Act Regulations click here
Editorial: Gulf states take on NOAA: More power to them
We wish the Gulf states well, but Florida’s East Coast anglers must be tasting the twang of sour grapes this week. The U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resource Committee passed a landmark bill, H.B. 3094. If it clears the larger legislative hurdle in both chambers, it would basically put federal red snapper management out of business in the Gulf of Mexico, in terms of stock oversight. The bill would remove the red snapper stock from under the federal thumb of the Gulf Fisheries Management Council and the Magnuson-Stevens Act. It would, instead, establish a new agency, the Gulf States Red Snapper Authority. This would have five representatives from the Gulf states — Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas — who would set snapper regulations by majority vote. Magnuson-Stevens is perhaps the most perfect example of a decent idea so poorly managed as to make it a national embarrassment. Read the rest here 18:30
Voters need to take action to save fishing industry – By Christian Putnam
The federal government could take a page from Gov. Baker’s playbook when it comes to breaking through bureaucratic roadblocks and promoting efficiency. Instead the Obama administration created the National Ocean Policy in 2010 by executive order as a way to deal with the oceans and the future of commercial fishing. In 2012, an implementation plan was outlined, resulting in a 2016 work plan. The National Ocean Policy was billed as a process by which stakeholders could have more direct and immediate control over stewardship of the oceans and the resources within. Instead it has turned into a regulatory burden that requires the participation of many federal agencies, creating an extended process in reacting to changes in the environment and the needs of stakeholders, including the endangered New England Commercial Fisherman. After 40 years of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, it has become apparent that the federal government is just not that good at managing our fisheries resources. Read the rest here 17:38
NOAA Propaganda Machine: Media roundtable on the effects of the Magnuson-Stevens Act on U.S. fisheries after 40 years
With the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing ocean fisheries management in U.S.waters, turning 40 this month, NOAA will feature speakers to discuss how the act serves as an international model for sustainable fisheries science, management, innovation, and collaboration. Media roundtable on the effects of the Magnuson-Stevens Act on U.S. fisheries after 40 years. Both U.S. and international reporters may attend. Thur., Apr. 28, 2:00 p.m. ET. On the panel: Russell Smith, deputy assistant secretary for international fisheries, U.S. Department of Commerce and NOAA-Samuel Rauch, deputy NOAA assistant administrator for fisheries regulatory programs-Matt Tinning, senior campaign director, Environmental Defense Fund oceans program-Chris Brown, president, board of directors, Seafood Harvesters of America-Rick Robins, chairman, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council-Ciaran Clayton, director, NOAA Office of Communications. Interested media may call in to 1-888-810-9645, and use the passcode “MSA” Link 17:00
Secretary of Commerce adopts halibut bycatch cuts
The Secretary of Commerce adopted Amendment 111 to the Magnuson-Stevens Act on Wednesday, which cuts halibut bycatch limits for groundfish trawlers. The amendment aims to reduce the bycatch in Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration believes the measure will reduce the overall amount of halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands by 361 metric tons compared to 2014, or nearly 800,000 pounds, freeing up more of the lucrative fish for the directed halibut fishermen in the central Bering Sea. Read the rest here 07:38
Richard Gaines – December 22, 2011 – Fish appeal claims feds misled, (and did they ever!)
An alliance of fishing interests led by the port cities of Gloucester and New Bedford filed briefs Wednesday arguing that the First U.S. District Court of Appeals should overturn a lower court ruling in June that upheld a radical reorganization of New England’s fishing industry. According to the appeal, the government intentionally circumvented requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and camouflaged the changes in order to transform the groundfishery in a commodities market, trading in catch shares, the appellants argued. Since the start of the new regimen in May 2010, Amendment 16 to the Magnuson-Stevens Act has concentrated control of the industry in a small number of hands while “disenfranchising” a larger number of smaller businesses, according to multiple studies. Read the article here 10:15
Community Development Quota entities also affect Kodiak fisheries
Fishermen all over America wonder about the special fishing rights given to the Western Alaska near shore villages, about 65 of them by name, in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. That was one of Ted’s biggest blunders. Now, at least one member of a regional fish council appears to be helping corrupt public elections. It’s a mess few understand, but with hundreds of millions a year at stake, and advantages that normal competitors cannot match when it comes to markets for quota catch shares. Tim Smith of Nome is asking for greater transparency and accountability. Here’s his latest piece, edited just for you. Read the rest here 13:35
Dr. Brian Rothschild — Reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Act and good public policy
There have been basically two approaches to the current reauthorization. One leaves the language of the act as is, the other makes changes.,, The substance of the 1996 reauthorization was driven by a burgeoning political influence of conservation groups. The act was moved from simply defined principles of fisheries management, such as estimating maximum sustained yield to avoid overfishing, to concepts like “rebuilding” stocks that were thought to be overfished, and to protecting the “environment” thought to be degraded by fishing. Read the rest here 08:19
Scott W. Lang Weighs in on the “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibilities in Fisheries Act”
Scott W. Lang Weighs in on the “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibilities in Fisheries Act”, otherwise known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act and discusses potential improvements to the bill that would ease the burden on fishermen and communities while streamlining the governmental oversight of the fisheries. Watch the video here 10:56
Frank Mirarchi – A Scituate fisherman’s perspective on government’s fisheries management
Thank you for the editorial “White House puts politics ahead of fishery science” published on Tuesday, May 26. You have provided your readers an insight into the utter dysfunction which pervades the government’s management of New England fisheries. By way of background, the Secretary of Commerce declared the northeast groundfish fishery an economic disaster in September, 2012. Subsequently, Congress appropriated approximately $33 million in disaster assistance to be distributed by the National Marine Fisheries Service,,, Read the rest here 20:20
America Needs More Government Surveillance – On Fish!
Here’s an idea: Maybe the NSA can put some of its surplus spy expertise into the oceans. For years, the US has tried to drive its fishing policies with data—collecting information about numbers of fish caught, along with their species, ages, and locations—so it can better protect species and ecosystems that are overfished. But the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration can’t quite match the NSA’s data-monitoring skills, leaving fisheries in limbo. Read the rest here 15:10
Charter captain refutes red snapper commentary
The “scheme” discussed in the commentary by Mr. Brown (4-15-15 issue) is not that the five state plan will destroy the commercial fishery -far from it, as all the states fully understand the importance of the commercial fishery providing safe local seafood to the consumer. The “scheme” is from the many commercial red snapper IFQ (Individual Fishing Quota) owners who mislead the consumers, the seafood houses and restaurants about what they want to do with their commercially harvested red snapper. Read the rest here 08:16
Red Snapper scheme could destroy fishery
If this scheme becomes law, it could soon become difficult or impossible to legally buy American Red Snapper. Retailers, restaurants and grocery stores will be simply unable to provide consumers with the genuine American Red Snapper that is increasingly popular across the country. Read the rest here 09:40
Don Young: Stosh Anderson misrepresents Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization
The April 8 opinion piece by Stosh Anderson, “Don Young seeks to unwind ‘Alaska Model’ for fisheries in Magnuson-Stevens Act,” fails to represent the facts of the legislation I introduced to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The issue, which was clearly ignored in Stosh Anderson’s commentary, is the application of the “Alaska Model” to the nation’s seven other regional fisheries councils, which was done in 2006 through amendments to the MSA. While the premise of the reform was good, the “Alaska Model” has not worked in other areas of the country as well as envisioned — for a number of reasons. Read the rest here 14:27
Don Young seeks to unwind ‘Alaska Model’ for fisheries in Magnuson-Stevens Act
Our lone congressman, Don Young, recently introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to reauthorize our federal fisheries management law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The law is the foundation of sustainable fisheries management, and bears the names and legacy of legendary Sen. Ted Stevens and Sen. Warren Magnuson. Young’s proposed legislation unwinds the important work the senators did to ensure the long-term sustainability of our fisheries. Read the rest here 07:29
Magnuson Stevens Act changes focused on flexibility, science, accountability, and transparency
Young’s proposed version of the MSA is titled the “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act.” His philosophy is to let the councils, who have more intimate understandings of their stocks and more responsiveness than the Department of Commerce, have more control of their respective operations, and to update the act to account for better scientific governance and more attention to economic effects. The revised act has several amendments regarding stock rebuilding protocols, council transparency,,, Read the rest here 14:55
Rising tide of America’s sustainable seafood by Ray Hilborn
This year marks 40 years since the passage of landmark Congressional legislation that fundamentally overhauled how the $90 billion U.S. commercial fisheries industry is managed. It established a unique public-private partnership in which the industry, working with scientists and both federal and local authorities, would regulate fishing according to agreed-upon scientific standards for environmental sustainability, even as the industry stretched to meet skyrocketing demand for seafood. Read the rest here 17:19
Alabama U.S. Rep Bradley Byrne wants red snapper quotas repealed, their management brought home to Gulf Coast
The Red Snapper Regulatory Reform Act is back on the table in the U.S. Congress. Its sponsor, U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (AL-01) and long-time observers of management of the popular reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico say its passage is necessary to open the fishery to alternatives to the current restrictive quota system as created under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Read the rest here 22:20
Magnuson-Stevens Act – National Standards 1, 3, 7 – Proposed Revisions
Today, a proposed rule to revise guidelines for National Standards 1, 3, and 7 was filed in the Federal Register. National Standards 1, 3, and 7 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act pertain to overfishing, rebuilding overfished stocks, and achieving optimum yield. NOAA Fisheries NMFS will accept public comments through June 30, 2015, Proposed rule (as filed version).Read the rest here 16:16
Chairmanship puts Rubio in middle of Florida issues, integral role in reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Act
Much has been made of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s new post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee,,, The Republican from West Miami is expected to also chair the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard. Rubio will play an integral role in reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Act, Read the rest here 12:39
Lawsuit filed over new rules for hired halibut skippers
The changes to the individual fishing quota, or IFQ, program revolve around the hired master program, and when a quota holder can have someone else catch their fish. Under the planned changes, catcher vessel-derived quota received by transfer after February 2010 cannot be fished by a hired master, with certain exceptions Read the rest here 15:21
Zone C members discuss federal rule-making – Of particular interest is the amount of cod bycatch in lobster traps
Sarah Cotnoir, Resource Coordinator for the Maine Department of Marine Resources, alerted the Zone C Council to a New England Fisheries Management Council draft amendment to the Magnuson Stevens Act. “Lobster gear is definitely on the radar, especially in western [Casco Bay area] Maine,” said Cotnoir. “Everything and anything is on the table.” Of particular interest is the amount of cod bycatch in lobster traps, said Cotnoir. Read the rest here 08:37
The need for real science in Magnuson by Carmine Gorga
If there are no fish at docks in Gloucester, it is not because there are no fish in the ocean. It is because the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is virtually prohibiting fishermen to fish. The reason is that NOAA is expected by its empowering legislation, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, to prevent overfishing. But how can a dwindling family fishing fleet do the overfishing? Any open-minded observer is concluding that NOAA is applying an agenda-driven science. Read more here 14:29
Senate releases new MSA draft – I can’t wait see that! Here’s the link
A new draft of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which guides fisheries management, was recently released by the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard. Read more here Staff Working Draft 20:48
The warped notions of a Red Snapper Rec Shill – Red snapper management is broken
There was a time when wild duck was a staple of any Chesapeake Bay restaurant. Canvasbacks were a particular favorite. The ducks were killed by commercial hunters. Some mounted huge 4-gauge guns on the bows of their duck boats, stealthily sculled up to big rafts of ducks and maximized their kill by firing into the flock sitting on the water. Read more here 09:30
NOAA a big part of New Bedford’s groundfishing woes, says new report
Magnuson lies at the root of many problems, conclude the six authors, among whom are economics professor emeritus Dan Georgianna of UMass Dartmouth and Rodney Avila, a longtime local boat owner and activist. NOAA, the arm of Congress charged with implementing the law, tilts the playing field against fishermen by imposing “conservation for conservation’s sake, said Kate Kramer, CEO of the city-based Center for Sustainable Fisheries. Read more here 05:56
What Disaster Aid Won’t Do for Massachusetts’ Fisheries
According to a deal announced last week, Massachusetts will receive nearly half of the federal disaster relief funds coming to the Northeast groundfish industry. Nobody thinks it will solve the fishery’s problems. Read more here 14:44
Tomorrow at 10AM, the House Committee on Natural Resources is marking up 6 bills including legislation by Chairman Doc Hastings to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
The legislation would renew and amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act – which governs the recreational and commercial harvest of fisheries in Federal waters – to implement common sense reforms that will promote increased flexibility and transparency, improve data collection, create jobs, and give predictability and certainty to the coastal communities that depend on stable fishing activities. Watch LIVE! Click here 18:32
Alaska: Commercial fishing groups, feds, testify on salmon management
Alaska has managed its own salmon since statehood, and neither party is questioning that. But the United Cook Inlet Drift Association and Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund, who brought the lawsuit forward in February 2013, want federal oversight of salmon management — and believes that is what congress has intended in its regulations of fish in federal waters. The National Marine Fisheries Service, however,, Read more here 08:02
Bering Sea fishery management needs to change for halibut users across Alaska
This year the Magnuson Stevens Act will be reauthorized by Congress. The MSA is the law by which the National Marine Fisheries Service and the North Pacific Fisheries Council manage the federal fisheries off of Alaska. In public hearings, the message that “all is well in Alaska waters” and “no major changes to the law are needed” has been echoed by many groundfish industry lobbyists. Although no one will dispute that the Bering Sea groundfish industry is a behemoth, its financial success is coming at the expense of other users. Halibut fishermen in all areas of the Bering Sea have a catch limit of 3.2 million pounds this year. The estimated bycatch cap in the Bering Sea is almost 8 million pounds. Read more here 10:58
The Magnuson-Stevens Act is in Need of Congressional Attention
In a recent article titled, “The Magnuson Act: It’s a Keeper” and published in the media outlet Roll Call[1], Eric Schwaab and Bill Hogarth’s representation that the current fisheries management regime is a success and b
uilt on sound science is blatantly false and amounts to no more than agency based rhetoric rather than reality. At present, there are a total of 7 Economic Disasters that have been declared by the Secretary of Commerce throughout the United States. These economic disasters are not limited to one region of the country, they span from New England, down the East Coast, into the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Pacific Coast. Read more here 16:41
Atlantic Coast Fishery News: Magnuson Stevens Act Questions sent to Senators on the Commerce Committee
Atlantic Coast Fishery News Sent a series of questions to your Senators on the Commerce Committee regarding The Magnuson Stevens Act. The questions are listed here, and the answers from your representatives will be published in the next issue. Please read these questions, and feel free to comment at Fisherynation.com. Yours could be included in the published article.
Many of the Rules adopted under the Magnuson Stevens Act have the net collective effect of preventing commercial fishermen from landing the total allowable catch in numerous fisheries in a fishing year. Some of these rules concern use and payment of federal observers, seasonal and geographical closure of highly productive fishing grounds, tight limitations on the catching or landing of various choke species that prematurely shut the target fishery (even though the target fishery is NOT overfished).19:24
Update of fisheries law pits West Coast against East Coast
The Magnuson-Stevens Act was enacted in 1976 to protect fisheries collapsing from overfishing and poaching by foreign trawlers. But the upcoming fourth reauthorization of the main federal fisheries law has split American fishing factions by coastlines. The Magnuson-Stevens Act expired last September. Republicans in the House Natural Resources Committee and Democrats in the Senate Commerce Committee have released separate bills to update the 2006 reauthorizationed Read more here 00:39
The Magnuson Stevens Act and it’s Ten Year Rebuilding Timeline: Science or Fiction? By Meghan Lapp
The arbitrary nature of a ten year rebuilding requirement is not a new issue. No scientific basis or analysis was involved at all in choosing a period of ten years. The requirement was a purely political decision. In fact, there are no scientific grounds for justifying any specific value as a standard for a fish stock rebuilding time. For the past several years, scientists, fishermen and Congress have highlighted the need for reconsideration of this provision. Read more here 13:44
The Assistant Professor is very much uninformed. – Congress shouldn’t undermine conservation measures that can help rebuild New England fisheries
For my dissertation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, I researched historical change in marine animal populations and coastalecosystems. Since returning to my native New England to work as a professor at Colby College, I have continued to document declining populations and ecosystem alterations. (it gets better) Read more here 00:10
Oral argument scheduled in salmon lawsuit
The Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund and United Cook Inlet Drift Association allege that the federal government erred when it removed Cook Inlet salmon management from the federal salmon fishery management plan, or FMP, and allowed the State of Alaska to take over without more federal oversight. Read more here 15:39
A CFA or an RSDA for Community Benefit from the Fisheries
In the Magnuson – Stevens Act that was enacted to provide a framework to manage the fisheries in the 200 miles of fish rich waters around U.S. shores, there is an intent to protect the fishing communities themselves. Not just the fishermen, but the downtown businesses, the tax coffers that fund roads, schools, etc, and the airlines and everything else that makes a community viable. Later, ‘community fishing entities’ wording was inserted as an idea to help in this process. This is a look at a current proposal for a ‘community fishing entity’ which is untried and untested and then a look at an existing State of Alaska program that would do the same thing. Read more here alaskacafe 20:36
Industry Says U.S. Fish Law Works Well in Alaska
The Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 1976 law that governs fishing in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and other federal waters, is up for reauthorization in Congress. Listen, Read more here 22:08
Three from Molly Dischner at Alaska Journal of Commerce – Magnuson-Stevens Act revisions – UFA scallops back on the menu – protections under Gulf rationalization
Magnuson-Stevens Act revisions focus of fishers in 2014- Bycatch reporting, transparency and the role of the National Environmental Policy Act in fisheries management are among the proposed Magnuson-Stevens Act amendments the North Pacific Fishery Management Council scrutinized during its February meeting. Read here UFA wants legislature to put scallops back on the menu – The United Fishermen of Alaska are trying to revive the legislative discussion in Juneau about the vessel-based scallop limited entry program as managers and participants prepare for the new open access state-waters fishery that will open July 1. Read here Stakeholders ponder protections under Gulf rationalization -Fisheries stakeholders gathered Feb. 10 to talk about community protections in the pending Gulf of Alaska rationalization program. Read here 13:52
Alaskans hear East Coast perspective on MSA
SEATTLE — Several members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council participated in a workshop on the Magnuson-Stevens Act Tuesday organized by the Center for Sustainable Fisheries and National Fisherman magazine. The Center for Sustainable Fisheries is a New Bedford-based nonprofit. President Brian Rothschild was the primary speaker, offering his perspective on what changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act are needed. Read [email protected] 09:26
Cook Inlet Fishermen Want Federal Fisheries Oversight
The 300 driftnetters that belong to United Cook Inlet Drift Associaion, or UCIDA , say the state’s current Cook Inlet salmon management plan violates the Magnuson Stevens Act, and they are suing. Listen @alaskapublic.org 09:46
Pam Anderson: Don’t limit access to Gulf’s fishery
Many members of Congress, ours included, have realized this and are attempting to make positive changes in the Magnuson-Stevens Act of 2007. But those whose agenda is to reduce participation in the fishery, leadership in NOAA included, are more active than they have ever been in their attempts to prevent it. Read [email protected] 12:23
MSA – Federal fishery law changes leave fishing communities vulnerable – Darren Platt, Commercial Fisherman, Kodiak
From the article – However, there are issues that both parties should be able to effectively address, despite ideological disparities. One of these is the re-authorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the federal law dictating how U.S. fisheries are managed. Many within the fishing industry believe that the MSA needs to be overhauled and rewritten, as numerous intentions of the law have gone unrealized due to vagaries within the law itself. Most notable is a systematically neglected mandate within the act — the requirement that fishery managers “account for the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities.” Read [email protected] 15:35
Council For Sustainable Fishing – Urgent — there are looming threats to fishing in 2014!
We always hope for the best for a new year, but unfortunately commercial and recreational fishing interests face the looming threats in 2014 of more no-fishing zones, job killing “catch shares” schemes and congressional inaction on fixing the badly flawed Magnuson-Stevens Act, among others. Read [email protected] 17:31
Another know nothing about fishing Chef calls for stronger MSA.
A Forum by JIM HUTCHINSON Jr.: Saltwater anglers need reasonable regulations. In a Forum published on Sunday, Chef Rob Stinson urged Mississippi’s congressional representatives to lead efforts to reauthorize and “strengthen the Magnuson-Stevens Act for future generations.” I wonder if Chef Stinson understands that the original effort to “strengthen” the federal fisheries law back in 2006 is what has helped cause serious economic hardship within the sportfishing industry due to loss of access for Gulf of Mexico’s saltwater anglers? Read [email protected] 11:25
Broken Bureaucracy – Magnuson-Stevens Act – It’s All Out of Balance
Since 1976, when the Magnuson-Stevens Act went into effect, both Captain Krusa’s regulation by natural selection and the Magnuson-Stevens Act’s promised balance between controlling harvests and protecting fishing communities have gone by the board. To be fair, the job has become extraordinarily complex, in large part because fish are hard to count, but also because the regulatory machinery, which includes government scientists, battling user groups, powerful conservation groups, and industry representatives, is broken. The result is a wasted resource and damaged communities. [email protected] 08:16
New fishing advocacy group has ambitious agenda
NEW BEDFORD — A new group has thrown its hat in the ring in the battle over current fishing regulations in New England and they have national ambitions. “I think that everyone is very receptive to a voice that comes at the issue of fisheries management from a very practical perspective,” said attorney and former New Bedford mayor Scott W. Lang, one of the founders of the Center for Sustainable Fisheries. “We think there can be a balance between conservation and having a dynamic fishing industry.” [email protected] 15:40
Warren hosts serious, deliberative fishing hearing
Dr. Brian Rothschild, retired UMass professor of marine science and president of the fledgling Center for Sustainable Fisheries, called for a sweeping overhaul of the Magnuson Stevens Act. He made an often-repeated observation that NOAA Fisheries lacks a balanced reading of the 10 national standards set down by Magnuson. “MSA implementation must be based on a balance among all 10 national standards (of MSA) rather than a preoccupation with overfishing,” he said. [email protected] 07:38
Peter Shelley throws down at the hearing: The Magnuson-Stevens Act is Working in New England
Good morning, Senator Begich, Senator Warren, Senator Markey, Congressman Tierney, Congressman Keating, and other members of the panel. My name is Peter Shelley. I am Senior Counsel with New England’s Conservation Law Foundation. Yes you are! [email protected] 20:31
New Report Supports Pallone Position on Flexibility in Fisheries Management
Today’s hearing supported Pallone’s long-time call for revisions to the Magnuson Stevens Act that will take into account more socioeconomic concerns to ensure that the livelihood of fishermen and fishing communities are not unnecessarily hurt because of arbitrary guidelines. [email protected] 09:50
Bipartisan Leadership Recognizes Need For Fisheries Reform – Jim Hutchinson, Recreational Fishing Alliance
September 11, 2013 – U.S. saltwater anglers today heard from a bipartisan coalition of congressional leaders that our federal fisheries law is in need of amendments in order to keep Americans fishing. “Both Chairman Hastings and new ranking minority leader Peter DeFazio (D-OR) pledged support for looking at sensible amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act to incorporate limited management flexibility to provide a better balance of commerce and conservation,” said RFA executive director Jim Donofrio. more here 17:26
Gloucester Daily Times Letter: Fishery time lines a recipe for failure – Captain Paul Cohan, F/V Sasquatch, Gloucester Ma.
The Magnuson Stevens Act, as it’s currently written and interpreted by NOAA, is a lot like watching a puppy dog trying to catch his docked tail. Although amusing to watch, the impossibility of the task makes it somewhat sad and ultimately pointless. Now, if the dog’s tail had not been lopped off and was still as nature intended, the poor pup could eventually catch it. Similarly, If Magnusson had sufficient flexibility in rebuilding time-frames, and the language that requires that all stocks be concurrently rebuilt to historic highs eliminated, we might stand a chance of catching our own tails, which we’ve been fruitlessly chasing around the ocean for 37 years. [email protected] 00:55
