As the new home of WashPIRG's environmental work, Environment Washington can be contacted regarding this news release.
Representative Nick Rahall
(D-WV), ranking member of the U.S. House Resources Committee, was joined by
bipartisan cosponsors today in introducing legislation that will enhance fisheries
science and management in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of marine
fish and ocean ecosystems.
The Fisheries Science and
Management Enhancement Act of 2005 embodies many of the recommendations issued
last fall by the presidentially appointed U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (USCOP).
Key provisions of the bill will:
- Mandate that the regional
Fishery Management Councils, or FMCs (the bodies in charge of managing regional
fisheries), adhere to sustainable catch levels recommended by scientists. The
FMCs have a record of downplaying the best available scientific information
in their management decisions.
- Address the exemption
from financial conflicts of interest unique (in federal government) to FMCs
by not allowing Council members to vote on issues in which they have a financial
interest.
- Broaden the membership
of the regional councils to provide equal representation between commercial
fishermen, recreational fishermen and members of the public knowledgeable in
fisheries issues. The current makeup of appointed Council members is such that
eighty to ninety percent of appointed members represent fishing interests.
- Establish a cooperative
research program with collaboration between fishermen and researchers in order
to more fully understand fishing's impacts on marine resources and wildlife.
"This bill is the
chance our oceans and fisheries need," said Chris Wells, Oceans Associate
for the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG). "President
Bush's U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy recognized that our oceans are in trouble;
Congressman Rahall's bold legislation is a great first step toward addressing
many of the problems currently inherent in how we manage our incredibly valuable
marine ecosystems."
The Rahall legislation amends
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the law that governs
federally managed ocean fish. The bill seeks to use science to better inform
fishery management decisions, broaden participation on the fishery management
councils to include the public interest, significantly reduce financial conflicts
of interest of those on the councils, and increase cooperative research to increase
our knowledge of oceans and their wildlife.
"This is a much-needed
first step to protect and conserve our precious oceans," said Wells. "In
some ways, the council regulating the fisheries off Alaska - where many Washingtonians
fish - has a better record than the others. By formally elevating the role of
science in fisheries management decisions, this bill will hopefully export some
of that success to other parts of the country."
