March 6, 2014 — While commercial users generally said the Magnuson-Stevens Act is working, subsistence and recreational fishers asked for a louder voice in the management process at a congressional hearing regarding the law up for reauthorization this year.
The Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard held a hearing Feb. 27 to gather Alaska and North Pacific perspectives on the Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization currently underway.
The act, or MSA, regulates management of federal fisheries from three miles to 200 miles offshore, including in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. It was implemented in 1976, and most recently updated in 2006. Now it’s up for reauthorization, with amendments likely.
The House Natural Resources Committee released their draft in December.
Sen. Mark Begich, chairman of the Senate oceans subcommittee, said the Senate draft could be out near the end of March, but that the committee wanted to gather as much input as possible before working on the legislation.
Read the full story at The Alaska Journal of Commerce