The congressional act that is the legal backbone of U.S. fisheries management came under fire this week as Sen. Olympia Snowe and Rep. Barney Frank requested an independent review of the science that supports the current time lines for rebuilding fish stocks.
In a letter sent to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator Jane Lubchenco, Snowe, R-Maine, and Frank, D-Mass., referred to the 1996 Magnuson-Stevens fishing act requirement that fish stocks be rebuilt within 10 years as an "arbitrary time line," not based in science.
They asked Lubchenco to request an independent study by the National Academy of Science looking at the scientific justification for the 10-year mandate, at the feasibility of restoring all fish stocks simultaneously, and the impact of non-fishing factors like climate change.
In an e-mail response to questions from the Cape Cod Times Thursday, Frank also called the rebuilding period "rigid" and "excessively punitive."
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