June 28, 2018 — Opponents to representative Don Young’s bill to update the Magnuson-Stevens Act are continuing to make noise as the bill waits its turn for a vote on the floor of the US House of Representatives. The latest to sound off: Sea Pact, a coalition of 10 large US and Canadian seafood distributors, including Fortune Fish & Gourmet, in Chicago, Illinois, and Santa Monica Seafood, in Los Angeles, California.
The group called on Congress Tuesday to reject Young’s bill, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, HR 200, saying it “risks the United States’ competitive advantage in the marketplace and weakens the sustainability of our fisheries”. It is urging lawmakers instead to “focus on supporting new market opportunities for sustainable U.S. seafood”.
Sea Pact does not say which particular provisions it takes issue with in the bill. Other opponents, including several advocacy groups, have noted their dislike of the flexibility HR 200 would give regional fishery management councils in following the acceptable catch limits recommended by their scientific advisory panels and the top statutory authority the bill would give MSA over other laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act.