WASHINGTON– July 31, 2012 — Massachusetts Congressmen Barney Frank, John Tierney and William Keating recently wrote to Sam Rauch, NOAA’s Acting Administrator for Fisheries, expressing their concerns over the reliability of the stock assessment for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, and urged the agency to consider alternative management advice.
The letter noted that, according to the Magnuson Stevens Act which governs US fisheries management, catch limits are to be set according to the best science available. Given the flaws with the current yellowtail assessment, the Congressmen wrote that relying on it for management advice is not consistent with Congressional intent.
"When Congress passed the Magnuson Act, it required the agency to set annual catch limits, but we also required NMFS to rely on the best scientific advice available. It was our intent by including the best scientific advice requirement, that NMFS would make decisions on [Annual Catch Limits] that were based on objective catch advice derived from a credible scientific source, not whatever science happens to be available."
They concluded that alternatives to the current assessment must be found, and that future assessments should include fishermen in the data collection process.