Magnuson-Stevens Act Archives - Page 31 of 46

Zinke: Open up first Atlantic monument to commercial fishing

September 18, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to open up the first marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean to commercial fishing, according to a recommendation he made in a memo to President Donald Trump.

Zinke’s memo touches on his recommendations for a host of national monuments, including Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Former President Barack Obama designated some 5,000 square miles (12,950 square kilometers) off New England as the marine monument about a year ago.

Obama’s proclamation should be amended to include commercial fishing activities regulated under federal law, Zinke’s memo said. The memo states that instead of prohibiting commercial fishing, the government should allow it in the area under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which is the primary law governing the U.S.’s marine fisheries and meant to prevent overfishing and guarantee a safe source of seafood.

Zinke’s memo states that the monument was established “to protect geologic features, natural resources, and species,” but regulators have charged that it disrupts their ability “to manage species to balance protection with commercial fishing.”

Conservationist groups slammed the recommendation on Monday, while fishing groups said they’ve been making the same proposal all along. Allowing regulated commercial fishing in the area is a conservation-minded move, said Robert Vanasse, the executive director of Saving Seafood, a fishing advocacy group.

“Regulated fishing everywhere under the Magnuson-Stevens Act is pro-conservation and appropriate for all federal waters,” he said. “It’s scientifically sound.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

Trade groups want 10-year requirement removed from Magnuson-Stevens Act

September 15, 2017 — As Congress gets ready to address reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Act, representatives from commercial fishing interests are urging lawmakers to revisit some of the current law’s regulations they feel have hindered the industry.

In particular, they’re urging officials to do away with language that caps rebuilding plans for overfished species to 10 years. It’s an arbitrary figure that has too rigidly applied across all federally managed species, said Lori Steele, the executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, at a hearing Tuesday of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard.

“Mixed stock and multispecies fisheries in particular are incredibly complex to understand and manage,” she said in a prepared statement. “We’ve experienced this on the East Coast and the West Coast. Stocks within a multispecies complex can have very different life histories and growth rates.”

Greg DiDomenico, executive director for the Garden State Seafood Association, joined her in support for ending the requirement, adding his group wants rebuilding plans based on science.

“We support rebuilding plans that can take into account environmental factors and predator/prey relationships,” he said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

East and West Coast NCFC Members Testify on Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization at Senate Hearing

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — September 12, 2017 — Two members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) testified before a key Senate Subcommittee today on the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

The hearing was convened by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, and was the third in a series of hearings on the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Lori Steele, Executive Director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association

Lori Steele, Executive Director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association based out of Oregon, and Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association based out of New Jersey, discussed the state of U.S. fishery laws and the needs of commercial fishermen.

In written testimony submitted to the Subcommittee, Ms. Steele said in part:

“Based on my prior experience with the New England Council and currently with the seafood industry on the West Coast, I feel confident the next MSA reauthorization can build on lessons learned from our past experiences in order to truly fulfill one of the fundamental and original goals of the MSA, emphasized in National Standard 1, the Act’s guiding principle – to prevent overfishing while achieving, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery. From its beginning, the MSA has conserved, protected, rebuilt, and sustained marine resources in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). As we move forward with this next reauthorization, we have an opportunity to better conserve, protect, and sustain the people, the economies, the culture, and the communities that rely upon healthy and abundant fisheries.”

Read Ms. Steele’s full testimony here

In written testimony submitted to the Subcommittee, Mr. DiDomenico said in part:

“We believe there are four main threats to the domestic fishing industry that are consistent with the concerns of this Subcommittee. They are as follows: (1) the status of the implementation of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), specifically the 2006 Amendments which were interpreted to be overly precautionary and limit management flexibility; (2) the growing efforts of the environmental industry to curtail commercial fishing access via use of the Antiquities Act, National Marine Sanctuary designations, and marine planning created pursuant to the National Ocean Policy; (3) the chronic inability to estimate and manage recreational fishing mortality; and (4) the potential for unfair implementation of catch shares.”

Read Mr. DiDomenico’s full testimony here

Alaska Sen. Sullivan Schedules Next Magnuson-Stevens Hearing for Sept. 12

September 11, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is continuing his series of hearings regarding reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, with another one scheduled for next week in Washington, D.C.

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation member Sullivan, chairman of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, will convene the hearing, “Reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act: Oversight of Fisheries Management Successes and Challenges” at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12, in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The hearing is the third of the series and will focus on the perspectives of commercial, charter, and recreational fishermen on the state of our nation’s fishery laws.

The first panel of witnesses include: Phil Faulkner, President, Nautic Star Boats; Jim Donofrio, Executive Director, Recreational Fishing Alliance; and Chris Horton, Senior Director, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.

The second panel of witnesses includes: Lori Steele, Executive Director, West Coast Seafood Processors Association; Capt. Robert F. Zales, II, President, National Association of Charterboat Operators; and Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director, Garden State Seafood Association.

The hearing coincides with the National Fisheries Institute’s Annual Political Conference, when many seafood company representatives will be in Washington, D.C.

Witness testimony, opening statements, and a live video of the hearing will be available on www.commerce.senate.gov.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

ALASKA: Science and accountability urged in fisheries management

Behnken: no one wins if the resource loses

September 1, 2017 — Fisheries and conservation advocates for coastal communities are urging that greater accountability and conservation measures be included in reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

“Both fishermen and managers understand that in the long run no one wins if the resource loses,” veteran harvester Linda Behnken told Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, during a field hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard on Aug. 23 in Soldotna. “As Congress works to strengthen the Magnuson-Stevens Act to support community based fishermen, we firmly believe that maintaining productive fisheries through resource conservation is step one in that process … The heightened emphasis on resource rebuilding that was central to the last reauthorization is still essential to long term resource health and we ask that Congress recommit to conservation goals,” she said.

Behnken, a harvester for more than 30 years, longlines for halibut and black cod and trolls for salmon with her family out of Sitka, which ranks 15th of all domestic fishing ports in the value of commercial landings. She is the president of the Halibut Coalition and executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association.

Behnken also asked the committee to address challenges faced by young fishermen and the growing impact to rural communities of lost fishing access.

Read the full story at the Cordova Times

ALASKA: Stakeholders voice preferred changes to federal fisheries act

August 31, 2017 — SOLDOTNA, Alaska — Sportfishing groups and advocates want to see the federal government separate the management of sport and commercial fishing in the upcoming renewal of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

The act, originally passed in 1976 and co-sponsored by the late Alaska U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, establishes the management system for federal and state fisheries in marine waters.

Under the law, the state has authority over waters from the mean high tide line out to three nautical miles offshore, and federal government has authority over waters from 3–200 nautical miles offshore, known as the Exclusive Economic Zone.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, oversees the fisheries in federal waters.

Last reauthorized in 2006, the act is up for renewal and potential amendment. Sen. Dan Sullivan, who chairs the Senate Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard subcommittee, chaired a field hearing for the act at Kenai Peninsula College on Wednesday, hearing from more than a dozen witnesses on three panels and discussing potential changes to the act.

The hearing on the Kenai Peninsula was the first of the field hearings on the reauthorization.

Panelists with interests in the sportfishing industry repeatedly emphasized that commercial fishing and recreational fishing are two distinct activities and asked for recreational fishing to be considered in management decisions.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Industry’s challenge to seafood import monitoring program rejected

August 29, 2017 — A legal challenge to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) – a set of regulations requiring increased traceability for seafood imports – was rejected on Monday, 28 August.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and a large group of U.S. seafood companies, including Trident Seafoods, Fortune Fish and Gourmet, Handy Seafood, and Alfa International Seafood. The industry representatives argued that the program violated federal law and that their businesses would be harmed as a result of its implementation.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled against the plaintiffs, finding that the Commerce Department’s implementation of the program was not done inappropriately. Specifically, Mehta found that SIMP was issued under rules allowed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and Administrative Procedure Act, and that the department properly completed a regulatory flexibility analysis to determine SIMP’s impact on small businesses.

“The court finds that the rule’s issuance did not run afoul of the MSA, and the current Secretary of Commerce validly ratified the rule, thereby curing any alleged constitutional defect in the rule’s promulgation,” Mehta wrote.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Oceana Loses Court Battle on Mid-Atlantic & New England Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology

August 28, 2017 — WASHINGTON — As part of its efforts to prevent overfishing, Congress has directed the National Marine Fisheries Service and regional councils to establish methodologies for collecting and reporting data on fish that are caught but subsequently discarded. Such discards are known as bycatch. In response to the congressional directive, the Northeast region adopted its Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology in 2015. Oceana, Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on protecting the oceans, filed suit, claiming that the adoption of this methodology violates the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

In March 2015, the National Marine Fisheries Service approved a new version of the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology, which is set forth in Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology: An Omnibus Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans of the Mid-Atlantic and New England Regional Fishery Management Councils, AR 6438-7511. NMFS then promulgated a final rule implementing the amendment in June 2015. United States District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle has ruled that Oceana has not identified any feature of the 2015 SBRM that violates the MSA, APA, or NEPA.

The following is excerpted from an article published Friday by Courthouse News Service:

Federal regulators ducked a conservation-minded challenge Thursday concerning rules meant to minimize fishing bycatch.

The National Marine Fisheries Service adopted the rules in question two years ago, with approval from the D.C. Circuit.

Though the rules requires fishing vessels to occasionally have a biologist document the amount of fish caught and discarded, the group Oceana complained in a federal complaint that the infrequency of such observation undermines its efficacy as a serious check on fishing abuses.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle sided with the agency Thursday at summary judgment, saying the issue comes down to how the Fisheries Service allocates its funding for NMFS, short for standardized bycatch reporting methodology.

“There is no funding trigger that needs to be adequately defined, nor a discretionary procedure for which the agency must set out an identifiable standard,” the ruling states. “Since there is no impermissibly vague funding trigger, the agency’s funding allocations to the SBRM are not reviewable.”

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

ALASKA: Fleet consolidation and loss of fishing jobs a hot topic at MSA hearing

August 28, 2017 — Timed to coincide with the 25th annual Kenai River Classic invitation-only fishing derby, Senator Dan Sullivan brought his Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard to Soldotna on Wednesday for a hearing on the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Congress periodically reviews the Act, giving lawmakers a chance to fine-tune or make changes where needed. One theme was addressed by many of the dozen invited experts who testified.

Fleet consolidation is a predictable outcome of limited access privilege fisheries, or LAPs in the acronym-filled parlance of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, or MSA. A limited access fishery is one that has been privatized in some way. For example, in the Bering Sea, the crab fishery was rationalized more than 10 years ago, resulting in a fleet today that is just a fraction the size it was before privatization. That’s because when the owners of boats also became the owners of crab quota, they could buy or lease that quota, and one boat could do the fishing of many. Some put the loss of crewman and skipper jobs from the year before rationalization to the next at over 900.

“In Alaska, the problem is now too few fishermen, not too few fish,” Linda Behnken of Sitka said. Behnken testified on behalf of the Halibut Coalition and the Longline Fishermen’s Association.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: Sen. Sullivan presses to re-approve law governing federal fisheries

August 25, 2017 — ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Sooner or later, Congress will have to start wading through dozens of fights that go along with re-approving the key law that governs federally managed fisheries.

Sen. Dan Sullivan is pushing for sooner, pressing the Commerce Committee to start advancing a revisit of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, historically brushed up in Washington every decade or so, but not since 2007.

As part of Sullivan’s effort to advance MSA to re-authorization, the Republican senator on Wednesday convened a meeting in Soldotna for a subcommittee that deals with fishery policy to hear testimony from a variety of industry leaders.

State and federal government leaders were among the 14 panelists, and so were commercial and sport fish business owners.

One view expressed by many stakeholders on the panels at Kenai Peninsula College was actually not directly related to MSA approval: The belief that the federal government needs to invest more money to improve quality of the data used to monitor escapement goals, bycatch, and other fishery benchmarks.

Read the full story at KTUU