Secretary Gary Locke has written to Senator John D. Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Ranking Republican as well as to Congressman Nick Rahall, Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Congressman Doc Hastings, the Ranking Republican to ad vise them that the Commerce Department supports the intent of the Snowe-Frank bill to treat the United States-Canada Transboundary Resource Sharing Understanding (Understanding) in a similar fashion to international agreements under the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) for fishery management purposes.
The Secretary stated that as with recognized international agreements, it is necessary to provide the United States with added flexibility for the purpose of negotiating with Canada mutually acceptable harvest limits of these stocks.
The Secretary observed that the Magnuson-Stevens Act provides an exemption from its rebuilding time period provisions in cases where management measures dictate otherwise under an international agreement in which the United States participates. Therefore, it is appropriate to allow limited flexibility in setting rebuilding timeframes for fish stocks subject to.
The Commerce Department strongly supports the International Fisheries Agreement Clarification Act, as proposed to be amended by Senator Snowe. The Office of Management and Budget advised the Department that there is no objection, from the standpoint of the Obama Administration's program.
In conclusion, the Secretary commended Senator Snowe, Congressman Frank, and the bipartisan New England Congressional Delegation for their continued commitment to building sustainable fisheries and fishing communities.
Read the letter to Chairman Rockefeller (all four letters contained the same text)