In a statement issued last week by the Executive Office of the President, the Administration announced that it strongly opposes a reauthorization bill to the Magnuson-Stevens Act that would provide more flexibility in rebuilding schedules for fish stocks.
The bill, H.R. 1335, was introduced by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) and has also drawn the ire of environmental groups that claim the bill would create exemptions from science-based catch limits and negate the gains achieved in rebuilding fish stocks that have been achieved by the existing Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Opponents of the new bill cite the the fact that more than 35 species have been restored to health as a result of the legislation.
Supporters of the bill, however, have been calling for more flexibility in Magnuson-Stevens since its last reauthorization in 2007. Deadlines were seen as arbitrary and the science guiding some of management’s decisions, the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS), was considered fatally flawed.
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