July 5, 2018 — The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill this week that has pitted sport-fishing interests against environmentalists.
It’s called the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, or H.R. 200. Also referred to as the Modern Fish Act, a vote on the bill was delayed about a week ago.
Its author, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, says the measure would update and improve the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law that guides federal fisheries regulators.
Young and supporters of his bill contend contend federal regulations, improper science and poor management decisions have hampered anglers’ access to U.S. fisheries.
“America’s fisheries are governed by an outdated regulatory scheme and inflexible decrees imposed by distant bureaucrats,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said after the panel advanced the measure in December. “Fishermen and biologists on the ground should be partners in the formation of management plans, not powerless onlookers.”