Improving Federal Marine Fisheries Management
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), a division of the Department of Commerce, is charged with managing our nation’s saltwater fisheries in federal waters. In 1976, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) was enacted to guide federal fisheries management and promote marine conservation. The act has since been amended in 1996 and 2006. Despite significant efforts to improve federal marine fisheries management during the most recent reauthorization of MSA, there are currently dramatic lapses in fisheries data and science that will likely result in large-scale fishery closures. The Fishery Science Improvement Act will provide NOAA Fisheries with the time and resources to end overfishing without imposing unnecessary fishery closures.
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Background
During the 2006 reauthorization of the MSA, important amendments were made that were intended to drive NOAA Fisheries to more effective marine fisheries management and stock rebuilding. While the intentions behind the reauthorization of MSA were aimed at better marine fisheries conservation, it has become apparent that NOAA Fisheries was not prepared for a law that mandates all our marine resources be managed to end overfishing by 2010 and 2011.
However, NOAA Fisheries is implementing the statute in a way that is unnecessarily shutting down sustainable recreational fisheries, primarily by:
- Applying annual catch limits (ACLs) to each individual stock of fish, including many that do not have accurate, up-to-date stock assessments; and
- Shutting down entire multispecies fisheries, including healthy and valuable recreational stocks, in order to rebuild weaker stocks.
This challenge is most acute in the Southeast. The South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are home to a multitude of complex fisheries and have historically received disproportionately low funding for science and data collection given the number of fish stocks and anglers in the region. Catch limits have recently been set for many recreationally important species, including wahoo, cobia and mahi mahi, despite the lack of scientific data available.
The Solution
The recreational fishing community has worked with Members of Congress to introduce legislation in the 112th Congress – the Fishery Science Improvement Act (FSIA, H.R. 2304/S. 1916) – which will guide federal fisheries management towards a more science-based approach and prevent NOAA Fisheries from setting arbitrary and overly-restrictive catch levels on numerous important recreational fisheries.
The FSIA provides a timely path for NOAA Fisheries to manage all of America's marine fish stocks based on sound scientific data and better ensure a future for our marine resources and a future for recreational angling. For more information, view the FSIA Factsheet.
