September 11, 2023 — Leigh Belanger, the fisheries outreach coordinator for Businesses for Conservation and Climate Action (BCCA), sent out an email blast on Sept. 7, advising fishermen and other stakeholders that there is still time to comment on NMFS and NOAA’s proposed revision of the guidelines for National Standards 4, 8, and 9, which guide fisheries management.
According to a BCCA letter to NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – “Current fisheries management undermines ecosystem and community health, violates NOAA’s emergent commitment to equity and environmental justice, and favors short-term economics at the expense of resource and fishery dependent communities.”
Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association represents one of several fishermen’s organizations from all over the country that have signed onto the BCCA letter. “We want to integrate NOAA’s new commitment to equity and environmental justice into the National Standard guidelines,” says Behnken