May 6, 2015 — Here’s an idea: Maybe the NSA can put some of its surplus spy expertise into the oceans.
For years, the US has tried to drive its fishing policies with data—collecting information about numbers of fish caught, along with their species, ages, and locations—so it can better protect species and ecosystems that are overfished. But the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration can’t quite match the NSA’s data-monitoring skills, leaving fisheries in limbo. They want to preserve the country’s aquatic resources, but they can’t do that without good science to guide their actions.
Last week, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed some controversial changes to the law governing fisheries that could loosen some of the scientific restrictions that are supposed to direct fishing rules. These changes aren’t in effect yet—the bill still needs to go through the House floor, the Senate, and also the President—but the effort is worth paying attention to, especially if you work in fishing, fish recreationally, live near the sea, eat seafood, or care about the long-term health of the oceans.
The bill is a reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, a 40-year-old law governing US fisheries. It was originally written to protect US fish stocks from foreign anglers, but was later revised to look out for the long-term longevity of ocean species. The biggest changes came in 2006, when the bill was changed to emulate the so-called “Alaska Model,” which sets up annual catch limits and stock building requirements based on the best available science.
But the problem, according to those in favor of the bill’s revisions, is that in many areas, the best available science is pretty paltry. Right now, most fisheries run on sparse data, which results in precautionary fishing directives. “It is an aspirational bill and it sets a very high bar, but for it to work, Congress needed to fund the science to that level,” says Robert Vanasse, the executive director of Saving Seafood, a fishing industry-funded advocacy group.