South Carolina Fishing Reports - Fisheries Information - Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries - Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries Closures and Improve Marine Fish Management In June, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) offe
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South Carolina Fishing Reports - Fisheries Information - Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries - Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries Closures and Improve Marine Fish Management In June, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) offe
South Carolina Offshore Fishing :: View topic - Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:37 pm Post subject: Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries
Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries Closures and Improve Marine Fish Management
In June, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) offered the Fishery Science Improvement Act, legislation introduced in the House of Representatives that will stop federal officials from arbitrarily setting restrictive catch limits on many important marine fish. Now that a companion bill has been introduced in the Senate, we need your help again to ensure passage of this important legislation before it’s too late and unnecessary catch restrictions are put into place!
The Situation
As amended in 2006, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires Regional Fishery Management Councils and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) to put in place annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for every fishery by December 31, 2011. The requirements were predicated on two critical assumptions:
• NOAA Fisheries would make decisions based on up-to-date and accurate stock assessments.
• NOAA Fisheries would improve catch data to better anticipate potential problems in a given fishery.
Neither of these obligations has been met and the results will be overly restrictive regulations and closures for recreational fishing.
Guesswork has no place in the management of America’s natural resources, and poorly-planned ACLs will have significant negative impacts on anglers and the businesses and communities dependent on our nation’s fisheries.
The Fisheries Science Improvement Act, H.R. 2304 in the House and S. 1916 in the Senate, seeks to ensure that the NOAA Fisheries sets catch limits based on scientific data, not on guesswork, as is currently happening for many recreationally important species such as wahoo, cobia and mahi mahi.
Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and others introduced the Fishery Science Improvement Act, which enables the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) to manage marine fisheries based on sound and timely science. The legislation is similar to a House bill (H.R. 2304) offered by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and 34 bi-partisan co-sponsors.
Sound science should drive management of our valuable fisheries. The reality is that sometimes fishery management decisions have been made using inadequate or outdated data and incomplete analysis. Guesswork has no place in the management of America’s natural resources. Management tools such as annual catch limits (ACLs) should be based on actual scientific calculation on what is appropriate for a given stock.
As amended in 2006, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) requires Regional Fishery Management Councils to put in place ACLs for every fishery by Dec. 31, 2011. This provision has been interpreted to apply to every stock of fish under management, leaving Councils with the conundrum of either deleting stocks from federal management or applying highly restrictive ACLs based on very poor data – or in some cases, non-existent data. NOAA presently has 528 stocks of fish or complexes of stocks under management. And there is updated stock assessment data on only 121 of the 528. The Fishery Science Improvement Act (FSIA) lifts the requirement to implement ACLs on stocks for which there is inadequate data and no evidence of overfishing. The legislation allows NOAA Fisheries to better conform to the intent of the 2006 reauthorization of MSA: ending overfishing based on sound scientific management.
Scientific Stock Assessments
The legislation directs NOAA Fisheries to set annual catch limits (ACLs) only on those stocks of fish for which they have up-to-date scientific information to inform that decision. The bill’s two conditions exempting a fishery from the ACL requirements are 1) the lack of a stock assessment in the prior six years and 2) the absence of any indication that overfishing is occurring. Under the agency’s interpretation of current law, it plans to establish ACLs by year-end on all stocks under management whether or not scientific information exists on the health of the stock. FSIA ensures the agency can manage to the science they have without removing protections for overfished stocks.
Ecosystem Stocks
FSIA provides for a science-based fishery management framework. With so many stocks of fish lacking sound scientific data, the agency is currently forced to either remove individual stocks from management or move selected stocks to an administratively-created ecosystem management category. This bill authorizes the Administration’s informal guidance and broadens the criteria for the designation of a stock’s inclusion in the ecosystem category.
Examples: South Atlantic Mahi & North Pacific Cod
Mahi Mahi is popularly sought after by commercial and recreational fishermen. Sustainably harvested, it is delicious table fare all across the country. Mahi shows no indication of overfishing, but NOAA Fisheries lacks a current scientific stock assessment on the fishery. Nonetheless, the agency instituted an ACL on the mahi fishery earlier this year based on a guess. Is it too high to ensure sustainability? Too low to allow responsible harvest? No one knows but the economic consequences could be devastating.
Pacific Cod – among the best-managed fisheries in the world – is scientifically assessed annually. It is known to be in good shape. Sometimes, when Alaska commercial fishermen target cod with pots, they accidentally catch octopus. NOAA did not have an assessment on octopus but knows the octopus stock shows no indication of overfishing. Nonetheless, due to the agency’s interpretation of current law, NOAA took a guess and set an ACL on octopus. It has since been estimated that the ACL on octopus was exceeded. So fishery managers shut down the Alaska pot fishermen targeting cod based on a guess about octopus. Was the ACL set on octopus too high? Too low? Who knows? But one of the world’s best-managed fisheries (cod) is shut down today in the Bering Sea because of a guess about the octopus fishery.
Guesswork has no place in scientific management of America’s public fishery resources. NOAA Fisheries is readying firm ACLs for 528 stocks of fish to meet a Dec. 31, 2011 deadline, without recent and accurate scientific information on even 25 percent of those stocks. The Fishery Science Improvement Act will prevent restrictions on fisheries that are not science-based and allow the agency to identify priority fisheries on limited resources. _________________ Admin of southcarolina-offshore.com
Captain Keith
Cell: 843-907-0064
www.NorthMyrtleBeachFishingCharters.com www.feedinfrenzycharters.com www.southchathamtackle.com www.BarefootFishing.net www.fishfindertackle.com
The 2011 Fishery Science Improvement Act (FSIA), H.R. 2304, enables the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) to manage marine fisheries based on sound science. Scientific management should be the cornerstone of fisheries management at NOAA. However, the agency has felt compelled by statutory deadlines to make major fishery management decisions using inadequate data and incomplete analysis. NOAA Fisheries is simply making guesses in many cases when setting catch limits and in determining other management parameters, and guesswork should have no place in federal fisheries management.
The bi-partisan legislation, introduced by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), is endorsed by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus as well as a broad coalition of conservation, sportfishing and marine industry groups. Original co-sponsors of H.R. 2304 include Rep. Wittman’s colleagues Reps. Mike Ross (D-AR); Jeff Miller (R-FL); Heath Shuler (D-NC); Bob Latta (R-OH); Jo Bonner (R-AL.); Dan Boren (D-OK); Charles Boustany (R-LA); Bill Cassidy (R-LA); Jeff Duncan (R-SC); John Fleming (R-LA); Frank Guinta (R-NH); Andy Harris (R-MD); Martin Heinrich (D-NM); Duncan Hunter (R-CA); Jeff Landry (R-LA); Scott Rigell (R-VA); and Steve Southerland (R-FL).
As amended in 2006, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) requires Regional Fishery Management Councils to put in place annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for every fishery by December 31, 2011. NOAA has interpreted this requirement to apply to every stock of fish under management, leaving Councils with the conundrum of either deleting stocks from management or applying highly restrictive ACLs based on very poor – or in some cases non-existent – data. NOAA presently has about 528 stocks or complexes of fish under management. But they do not have updated stock assessment data on even half of them.
The Fishery Science Improvement Act removes the requirement to implement annual catch limits and accountability measures on stocks for which there is inadequate data and no evidence of overfishing. The legislation has three key areas which allow NOAA Fisheries to better conform to the intent of the 2006 reauthorization of Magnuson Stevens: ending overfishing based on sound scientific management.
Scientific Stock Assessments
The legislation directs NOAA Fisheries to set annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) only on those stocks of fish for which they have up-to-date scientific information to inform that decision. The two conditions exempting a fishery from the ACL requirements are: 1) the lack of a stock assessment in the prior five years and 2) the absence of any indication that overfishing is occurring. Under the agency’s interpretation of current law, it is planning to establish ACLs on all stocks under management whether or not any information exists on the health of the stock. FSIA ensures the agency can manage to the science they have.
Ecosystem Stocks
FSIA transitions NOAA Fisheries and the Regional Fishery Management Councils to a science-based fishery management framework. With so many stocks of fish lacking sound scientific data, the agency is currently forced to either remove individual stocks from management or move only selected stocks to an administratively created ecosystem management category. This bill authorizes the Administration’s informal guidance and broadens the criteria for the designation of a stock’s inclusion in the ecosystem category.
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South Carolina Fishing Reports - Fisheries Information - Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries - Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries Closures and Improve Marine Fish Management In June, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) offe
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