March 2, 2016 (Saving Seafood) — The US fishery management councils need a seat at the table when international negotiations on tuna treaties are taking place, according to Kitty Simonds, Executive Director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC). Ms. Simonds, testifying at a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans, spoke in favor of H.R. 4576, the Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries Act. Among other provisions, the Act would require U.S. Commissioners to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention (WCPFC) to “advocate positions that minimize disadvantages to U.S. fishermen in relation to other foreign entities.”
Ms. Simonds testified on the need to modify how the U.S. approaches international negotiations, noting how, to date, the U.S. fleet has been disadvantaged by the implementation of the WCPFC.
“Profitable, well-managed US fisheries in the Western Pacific and Central Ocean, such as the Hawai‘i longline and US purse seine fisheries, are in danger of being lost forever due to geopolitics and being on the losing end of WCPFC negotiations. Couple this with an uneven playing field with regard to enforcement and domestic implementation of Commission measures and it is no wonder that these fisheries face a perilous future,” she said.
NOAA and the Obama Administration oppose further involvement by the regional councils in international negotiations. When asked about the Administration’s opposition to council involvement by Subcommittee Chair John Fleming, Ms. Simonds stated “the United States manages fisheries through regional fishery management councils. That’s why we need to be at the table at any fisheries commission.”
Read the testimony from Kitty Simonds here
Watch the opening testimony from Kitty Simonds here
Watch Kitty Simonds further discuss H.R. 4576 here