The Pew Environment Group today commended the Mid-Atlantic Council on its initial step toward implementing new federal requirements designed to end overfishing and rebuild depleted fish populations through the application of annual catch limits and accountability measures.
The 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that fishery management councils develop plans that include new annual catch limits and accountability measures by 2011. By basing these regulations on best available science, the new law aims to eliminate the overfishing and depletion of natural fish populations that have suffered in the past from short-sighted political and economic decisions.
“We’re encouraged by the overall direction proposed by the council,” said Lee Crockett, director of Federal Fisheries Policy at the Pew Environment Group. “This document suggests that the council is serious about meeting its obligations to comply with the new congressional mandate.”