| ACT NOW! Legislation Introduced to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries Closures
The Fisheries Science Improvement Act will help ensure science is the primary driver of federal fisheries management decisions....
For more information, contact Gordon Robertson, vice president and Government Affairs lead, 703-519-9691, x237, or Mike Leonard, Ocean Resource Policy director, x230.
The Fisheries Science Improvement Act (H.R. 2034), introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) on June 23, 2011, with the support of a bi-partisan group of 18 other Members of Congress, seeks to ensure that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) is required to set catch limits based on data, not on guesstimates.
This legislation will guide federal fisheries management towards a more science-based approach and prevent NOAA Fisheries from setting arbitrary and overly-restrictive catch levels on numerous important recreational fisheries.
H.R. 2304 provides a timely path for NOAA Fisheries to manage all of America’s marine fish stocks based on sound scientific data. Click here for the Fishery Science Improvement Act Fact Sheet.
The Situation
As amended in 2006, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires Regional Fishery Management Councils to put in place annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for every fishery by December 31, 2011. The requirements were intended to end overfishing by 2011 but were predicated on two critical assumptions
NOAA Fisheries would make decisions based on up-to-date and accurate stock assessments.
NOAA Fisheries would improve catch data to better anticipate potential problems in a given fishery.
Neither of these obligations has been met.
Scientific management should be the cornerstone of fisheries management at NOAA. However, the agency has felt compelled by statutory deadlines to make major fishery management decisions using inadequate data and incomplete analysis. NOAA Fisheries is simply making guesses in many cases when setting catch limits and in determining other management parameters, and guesswork should have no place in federal fisheries management.
Act Now!
ASA encourages you to FAX a letter to your Members of Congress on your company letterhead in support of the Fisheries Science Improvement Act. A template message is included below for your reference. Please be sure to include specific information on your company. You can find your legislators’ FAX numbers by going to ASA’s Legislative Action Center and entering your zip code. It is important that industry members send comments!
You may also click here to send your message electronically.
SAMPLE MESSAGE FOR YOUR COMPANY LETTERHEAD
Dear Senator/ Representative _______:
I am writing to ask for your support of the Fisheries Science Improvement Act, H.R. 2304. This legislation will enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) to manage marine fisheries based on sound science, instead of guesswork as is currently the case regarding many important recreational fisheries.
My company, ________, is located in __________ and employs ___ people. As a member of the sportfishing industry, my company is dependent on clean waters with healthy and abundant fish and wildlife populations and supports science-based initiatives that will help protect the aquatic environment.
As amended in 2006, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires Regional Fishery Management Councils to put in place annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for every saltwater fishery by December 31, 2011. NOAA Fisheries has interpreted this requirement to apply to every stock of fish under management, leaving Councils with the conundrum of either deleting stocks from management or applying highly restrictive ACLs based on very poor – or in some cases non-existent – data.
This Fishery Science Improvement Act removes the requirement for NOAA Fisheries to establish ACLs and AMs on stocks that are inadequately assessed and which show no signs of overfishing. It also authorizes NOAA Fisheries to move stocks with little data into an ecosystem component category, which allows these stocks to still be managed without requiring the establishment of ACLs. Finally, FSIA extends the 2011 deadline to 2014 for stocks of fish that are not overfished, allowing the agency to needed time to implement the Act.
Scientific management should be the cornerstone of NOAA’s fisheries management decisions. However, the agency has felt compelled by statutory deadlines to make major fishery management decisions using inadequate data and incomplete analysis. NOAA Fisheries is simply making guesses in many cases when setting catch limits and in determining other management parameters, and guesswork should have no place in federal fisheries management.
H.R. 2304 provides a timely path for NOAA Fisheries to manage all of America’s marine fish stocks based on sound scientific data. On behalf of this nation’s recreational fishing community, I strongly urge you to support this vitally important legislation and help ensure its passage.
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