November 21, 2017 — SEATTLE — The head of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) fisheries management arm, Chris Oliver, offered a crowd of Alaska fishermen some insight into the Donald Trump administration’s approach toward fisheries management.
Generally speaking, the assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries said at Seattle’s Pacific Marine Expo on Nov. 17, the administration values flexibility and a regional approach toward regulating commercial fishing of federally managed stocks, an approach that meshes with his own background and views.
“You’re looking at an administration that recognizes that fisheries by nature require a lot of regulation, but I also think they’re looking at councils to take a step back and look at ways to not have a tendency toward micromanagement but to look at the big picture,” Oliver, who took up the job in June, said.
Learning curve
Prior to that, Oliver served as executive director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council during at a 16-year run that also included stints as a fisheries biologist and its deputy director. That council, one of eight regional bodies created under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), which regulates US commercial and recreational fishing, is arguably the country’s busiest, as it covers Alaska, home to half of all US seafood production.
His experience, he said, left him as a supporter of the council system. His new national-level job — he’s received over 200 briefings to date on the issues facing NOAA Fisheries — affords him a wider perspective.
“It’s been an incredible learning experience and an incredible learning curve. It’s been hectic at times, frenetic at times, and a bit overwhelming at times, but it’s been extremely exciting all the time and never boring,” he said.