September 15, 2017 โ As Congress gets ready to address reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Act, representatives from commercial fishing interests are urging lawmakers to revisit some of the current lawโs regulations they feel have hindered the industry.
In particular, theyโre urging officials to do away with language that caps rebuilding plans for overfished species to 10 years. Itโs an arbitrary figure that has too rigidly applied across all federally managed species, said Lori Steele, the executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, at a hearing Tuesday of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportationโs Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard.
โMixed stock and multispecies fisheries in particular are incredibly complex to understand and manage,โ she said in a prepared statement. โWeโve experienced this on the East Coast and the West Coast. Stocks within a multispecies complex can have very different life histories and growth rates.โ
Greg DiDomenico, executive director for the Garden State Seafood Association, joined her in support for ending the requirement, adding his group wants rebuilding plans based on science.
โWe support rebuilding plans that can take into account environmental factors and predator/prey relationships,โ he said.