April 29, 2015 — The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources will take up a bill Thursday that could potentially change the way fisheries are managed in the U.S. through an amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
Introduced by Congressman Don Young, R-Alaska, as the “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act,” the bill aims to give fishery managers more flexibility when setting catch limits and rebuilding depleted fish stocks. Some U.S. anglers and environmentalists, however, fear the proposed changes could set a bad precedent for rebuilding fish stocks.
Ellen Bolen, the director of the fish conservation program at Ocean Conservancy, said the bill potentially could damage the progress made to rebuild several species once considered overfished, including the popular Gulf red snapper.