March 13, 2013 — The following was released by the office of Congressman Bill Keating.
WASHINGTON — Today, the House Natural Resources Committee is holding the first hearing on the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Below is a statement from Rep. Bill Keating, who represents the South Shore, Cape, Islands, and South Coast, including the Port of New Bedford.
“I look forward to participating in the robust conversation that will surely follow today’s hearing and continue throughout the next year as we work toward constructive reform and reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. In 2011, the House Natural Resources Committee heard testimony from the authors of several bills to reform the very subject of today’s hearing. While the Committee chose not to address Magnuson-Stevens reform in the 112th Congress, we once again have an opportunity to tackle gaps and redundancies in management.
“Now is the time to prioritize maximizing harvests of healthy species, finding further flexibility in the Act’s arbitrary ten-year rebuilding requirement, and improving management of areas that are closed to fishing. Furthermore, it is imperative that the Magnuson-Stevens Act take into account the full social and economic impact of existing and future regulations on local communities. NOAA views the social and economic impact written into Magnuson-Stevens as more administrative than policy-oriented. But the original intent of Congress was that the impact on fishing communities and business should specifically influence policy, which is why it was included in the legislation in the first place. At the end of the day, our focus should be on preserving and protecting the livelihoods of thousands of men and women from coast to coast and the direct effect on regional economies.”