FISHERIES BILLS NEED TO KEEP THE PROMISE, LOSE THE POISON

FISHERIES BILLS NEED TO KEEP THE PROMISE, LOSE THE POISON

A flurry of bills to renew the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act finally has fishermen optimistic about chances for improvements to the nation’s fisheries law. After five years of frustrating congressional inaction, the Senate Commerce Committee last fall came up with S. 2012, a lightweight bill that tries to please everyone by offending no one and thus does practically nothing. But Republican leaders in the House have upped the ante. HR 5018, co-introduced in March by Resource Committee Chair Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), Don Young (R-Alaska) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.), improves on the Senate bill in a number of areas. The most noteworthy provision would implement a key recommendation of the U.S. Committee on Ocean Policy by not allowing the management councils to set total allowable catches higher than the level recommended by their scientific committees. The bill also goes much further than the Senate’s in laying the foundation for an eventual move into an ecosystems approach to fisheries management. But it didn’t go far enough, so Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.), chair of the Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee, broke ranks and dropped his own bill less than a week later. HR 5051 would establish guidelines for the councils to develop fishery ecosystem plans with conservation measures to avoid harm to food webs and habitat. The bill also calls for development of a long-term vision and plan for the future of our fisheries, including what we want a fishery to look like after it is rebuilt, taking into account the sustainability of the resource and community needs. While Gilchrest’s bill doesn’t go as far as Pombo’s in tying quotas to scientific advice, HR 5051 upholds the current law’s strict requirements on rebuilding overfished stocks. Unfortunately, Pombo’s does not. Indeed, by adding some mushy language that could allow councils to extend rebuilding plans indefinitely, the authors of HR 5018 poisoned the well of support the rest of the bill would attract. Between them, these two House bills address the NCMC’s primary goals for reauthorization: science-based quotas, ecosystem management and a national vision for sustainable fisheries. The challenge now is to get the changes needed to restore the health of our fisheries through Congress while leaving the poison pills behind.