Guest View: Congress needs to take the reauthorization of the Magnuson Act seriously – By Brian J. Rothschild, Montgomery Charter Professor of Marine Science and Technology, SMAST
The passing of Richard Gaines, investigative reporter for the Gloucester Daily Times, silenced a voice that illuminated governmental excess in regulating the fishing industry. Thinking about Richard’s untimely death, I wrote the following memorial on the future of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the law that governs fisheries management in the U.S.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act is scheduled to be reauthorized this fall. Rumor has it that a material reauthorization is unlikely because anticipated changes are anticipated to be controversial. Failing to materially reauthorize the act is a serious lapse in public policy. The current version of the act does not protect the fishing industry and the public from governmental excess because, as a practical matter, the current form of the act does not ensure the operation of the checks and balances among the legislative, judicial and executive branches. continued@southcoasttoday
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