Earth Day Marks 25 Years Of US Fisheries MismanagementThe Ocean Conservancy Record Number of Stocks at Risk as Congress Begins Reauthorization of Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Florida Conservationists, Fishermen Urge Stronger Management, Conservation WASHINGTON, D.C. - "As Earth Day coincides with the 25th anniversary of the law governing our ocean fisheries, Americans should be troubled to learn that the number of U.S. fish stocks at risk is at a record high," said Lee Crockett, Executive Director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network. The Network is a national coalition of more than 100 top environmental organizations, marine science, and commercial and recreational fishing associations. "Americans should urge Congress to reauthorize and strengthen the conservation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act."  "In the South Atlantic, 13 of the 15 reef fish, whose status is known, are now officially designated as overfished," said Marianne Cufone, Fish Conservation Program Manager for the Southeast Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Office of the Center for Marine Conservation, St. Petersburg, FL, a member of the Network. "Four of these species are already on the Endangered Species Act candidate list." The Magnuson-Stevens Act, enacted on April 13, 1976, extended national jurisdiction over fisheries to 200 miles offshore, and empowered the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and six other fishery management councils, and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to manage and conserve these living resources "The law succeeded in ending overfishing by foreign vessels near our shores," said Crockett, "but in effect it just shifted the overfishing and related problems to the growing U.S. fishing fleet, whose build up it also subsidized." Congress amended the law in 1996, directing NMFS and the councils to prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, protect important fish habitat, and minimize the incidental killing of non-target species, known as 'bycatch.' "The Act looks great on paper, but unfortunately the Commerce Department and NMFS have not followed the intent of the Act," said Michael Leech, President, of the International Game Fish Association in Dania Beach, Fla. "Neither the Gulf nor South Atlantic Council has yet fully implemented the SFA's overfishing requirements. In fact NMFS rejected most of the Gulf Council's SFA implementation amendments because they did not comply with the Act and the Council has not submitted any new amendments to address these problems." The direct cost to U.S. taxpayers of fisheries mismanagement, since 1994, totals over a half billion dollars for boat buyouts to reduce fishing overcapacity and emergency aid. Federal buyout legislation, introduced in April, is seeking $25 million to reduce commercial fishing capacity in the South Atlantic and Gulf regions. These figures do not begin to account for the costs of lost opportunity and lost employment. According to NMFS fisheries database, and the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS) millions of pounds of snapper and grouper/sea bass species alone were landed in 1999, by commercial and recreational sectors combined. "With South Atlantic reef fish populations still overfished and commercial and recreational catches at high levels, conservation minded management measures like no-take marine reserves are key to the future health of our reef fish populations," said Cufone. "Nationwide, NMFS has approved the vast majority of the regional councils' fisheries management plans, even though most did not call for rebuilding overfished populations as quickly as the law requires," Crockett said. "Very few plans contained any new measures to reduce bycatch. And while, NMFS and the councils have identified essential fish habitats, they still have not adopted regulations needed to protect these vital areas." The Network and its members urge Congress to make conservation the number one priority of fish management by changing the law to accomplish these eight goals: - Conserve Marine Ecosystems Marine Fish Conservation Network is a national coalition of more than 100 environmental organizations, commercial and recreational fishing associations, and marine science groups dedicated to promoting the long-term sustainability of marine fisheries, representing nearly 5 million people.
For more information, or to contact The Ocean Conservancy, see their website at: www.oceanconservancy.org |
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