Science: Different angles on fishing limits
The federal agency charged with regulating marine fisheries in U.S. waters proposed a rule change yesterday that critics say could seriously hamper attempts to rebuild healthy fish stocks. [Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions (PDF)]
Fishing in domestic waters is governed by the Magnuson-Stevens Act of 1976. At issue is a provision of that law—called National Standard 1 (NS1), or the overfishing standard—that since 1998 has required the country's eight Regional Fishery Management Councils to assess their fish stocks and to set regulations designed to rebuild overfished stocks within 10 years. Currently, 20 percent of major marine fish stocks in this country are already overfished or experiencing overfishing, meaning that the fish are being caught faster than they can reproduce.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) says that its proposed change to the overfishing standard will simplify the stock-assessment and rebuilding-plan process, and help take pressure off fishers who are suffering from reduced stocks and fishing restrictions. But critics, who include fisheries scientists, coastal fishermen, and environmental groups, say that the rule change could significantly lengthen the 10-year rebuilding time frame for many species. By allowing boats to take more fish now, they say, the rule change only postpones the difficult but necessary measures—fishing restrictions and closures—that are just now starting to help U.S. fish stocks bounce back from severely depleted levels. Leaving fish underprotected for longer, they say, will make full recovery even more difficult in the long run.
The rule change may have been designed to help take financial pressure off commercial fishers, says fisherman Peter Baker of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fisherman's Association. But he thinks it would have the opposite effect. "The bottom line is that fishing depends on healthy fish populations, and this is a step back," he said at a press conference arranged by critics of the rule change. "Coastal communities and small-boat fishermen don't support this."
NMFS will take public comments on the proposed rule change until August 22. Comments can be sent to nationalstandard1@noaa.gov or by accessing www.regulations.gov.