Even As Fishers and Regulators Celebrate a Management Milestone, Calls for Reform of the Law
Recently, the New York Times forecast a “milestone in fisheries management” — by May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will have set catch limits under the 2006 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act amendments for all covered species, which the newspaper heralded as a triumph and a model for bipartisan cooperation in achieving environmental improvement. Some are calling it the most important environmental law since the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. (The original law was passed in 1976 and it was reauthorized once before, in 1996.) A heralded achievement, but even now — five years before reauthorization is required — efforts are underway in Congress to weaken the law. A rally in Washington, D.C., in March brought together commercial and sportfishing interests under the banner of “United We Fish” to expand allowable catches under the catchwords of “Fix Magnuson Now.” But there is also legislation in the House, introduced by Edward J. Markey (D.-Massachusetts), that would heighten the role of science in setting catch limits, which might mean more restrictions for anglers and the seafood industry as regulators work to rebuild fish stocks. Before there is action on Capitol Hill, we would like to honor the catch-limits milestone by asking, “Is the 2006 law succeeding in restoring fish stocks? Are adjustments needed to ensure robust stocks and sustainable commercial and recreational fisheries in the future?”