Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Legislation Bringing Much-Needed Flexibility To Magnuson-Stevens Act

Washington, DC --- A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), a senior member of the House Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee, and U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-NJ), today introduced The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009. The legislation will bring much-needed flexibility to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2007.

The lawmakers are increasingly concerned that the process of managing our nation's fisheries is unfair and oftentimes leads to unwarranted outcomes. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, fishery rebuilding plans must meet a rigid 10-year deadline to rebuild fishing stocks to unprecedented levels. This timetable has led to consistent cuts to some fisheries, hurting fishing communities economically.

They believe that more flexibility is needed in the process so that unrealistic quotas are not implemented to the detriment of our fishermen and New Jersey's shore economy. They point to comments by fisheries management experts that rebuilding requirements are too rigid and may not be the best way to manage species in diverse environments.

"This legislation is the best way to rebuild our fisheries without bankrupting tackle shops, party boats and commercial fishermen," Pallone said. "We should be using sound biology and science when deciding how best to rebuild fish stocks. Unfortunately, the current process of managing our nation's fisheries is based on arbitrary deadlines set by Congress, which has continued to negatively impact fishing communities."

"Fishing is a treasured family tradition for many residents of the third district, and for others, it is a source of their livelihood," Adler said. "I am proud to support a bill that recognizes the needs of recreational and commercial fisherman and implements environmental practices that promote healthy fisheries."

The lawmakers point to the management of summer flounder quotas in recent years as an example of why this legislation is needed. This year, for the first time in three years the National Marine Fisheries Service increased the summer flounder quota from 15.77 million pounds in 2008 to 18.45 million pounds in 2009. However, New Jersey is going to be penalized for overfishing in 2008. The result of the penalty was a 4.2 percent decrease in the 2008 quota. This is the fourth cut to the summer flounder quota in four years.

The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 will provide the U.S. Secretary of Commerce authority to allow limited flexibility in the rebuilding mandates, but only if one of the following conditions apply:

· The biology of the stock of fish, other environmental conditions, or management measures under an international agreement, in which the United States participates dictates otherwise.

· The Secretary determines that the 10-year period should be extended because the cause of the fishery decline is outside the jurisdiction of the Council or the rebuilding program cannot be effective only by limiting fishing activities.

· The Secretary determines an extension would provide for the sustained participation of fishing communities or would minimize the economic impacts on such communities, provided that there is evidence that the stock of fish is on a positive rebuilding trend.

· The Secretary determines that the 10-year period should be extended for one or more stocks of fish of a multi-species fishery, provided that there is evidence that those stocks are on a positive rebuilding trend.

· The Secretary determines an expansion is necessary because of a substantial change to the biomass rebuilding target for the stock of fish concerned after the rebuilding plan has taken effect.

· The Secretary determines an expansion is necessary because the biomass rebuilding target exceeds the highest abundance of the stock of fish in the 25 year period preceding and there is evidence that the stock is on a positive rebuilding trend.

The legislation will also add additional criteria to the biomass stock assessment mandated in the Magnuson Stevens Act to include commercial, residential and industrial development, as well as agricultural activity in coastal areas and its impact on the marine environment. It also calls for the assessment of the relationship between predator and prey and other environmental and ecological changes to the marine conditions in the stock assessment.