May 3, 2019 — The following was released by The Office of Congressmen Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ):
At the Natural Resources Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee hearing on the State of Fisheries Congressman Jeff Van Drew advocated for the fishermen in South Jersey and throughout the country.
The 2006 Magnuson Stevens Act Amendments dramatically changed the way domestic fishery resources are managed. Since the implementation of these policies, it has been widely acknowledged that the resulting requirements have been troublesome.
The National Marine Fisheries Service began revisiting these policies since 2012 after receiving concerns from managers and stakeholders. In addition, Oversight Hearings on this topic began in October of 2009 with hearings conducted periodically over the past ten years. The result of these lengthy deliberations highlighted the concept of flexibility, which is generally supported by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Council Coordinating Committee and was a reoccurring topic of the Managing Our Nations Fisheries 3 Conference.
“No one understands the impacts of shifting fish stocks more than commercial and recreational fishermen in my district. Summer flounder and Atlantic croaker were historically fished off the coast of North Carolina in the late ’90s and now are being fished 250 miles north, off the coast of New Jersey,” said Rep. Van Drew. “Perhaps it’s time that Congress makes “flexibility” a requirement of the Magnuson Stevens Act by enacting bipartisan reform that is science-based and achieves fishery management objectives.”
Highlight video of the “State of Fisheries” hearing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPsjLVPp-0o&feature=youtu.be