Posted in | National Policy
Trump’s National Ocean Proclamation Covfefe, Confusing
Following the tradition of those who have come before him, President Trump proclaimed June National Oceans Month. However, as has been his modus operandi, Trump broke ranks with his predecessors. Instead of using National Ocean Month as a platform for promoting conservation, Trump seized the moment to suggest ways to exploit and destroy our oceans treasures. Marine life had better take cover, because National Ocean Month under President Trump means oil drilling destruction and favoring commercial interests over environmental protections. … More Info
Latest U.S. Fisheries Management Bill, Like its Two Recent Predecessors, is Bad for Fish, the Ocean, and Coastal Communities
A fisheries bill recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives is a reprise of legislation we saw in the past two Congresses. And, just like those prior bills, the “new” one would significantly weaken our nation’s fishery management law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), which was enacted more than 40 years ago. … More Info
With New Fish Rule, NOAA Lets the Big One Get Away
In October the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which oversees our nation’s fisheries, passed up a chance to take a major step toward EBFM. … More Info
Two New Developments Could Boost Health of Fisheries and Our Ocean
Those of us who care about healthy oceans and fish populations are pleased to see two strong spotlights shine last week on ecosystem-based fishery management, or EBFM. As a reminder, the goal of EBFM is to better inform management decisions with a big-picture approach to fisheries management that uses existing data about where fish live, what they eat, what eats them, and what threats they face in order to ensure that ocean ecosystems and the fisheries they support are healthy and productive. … More Info
The Bedrock of U.S. Sustainable Fisheries Just Got Rumbled
National Standard 1 is regularly identified as the bedrock of sustainable U.S. fisheries management: prevent overfishing while producing optimum yield from the nation’s fisheries. The latter objective imports the linked statutory requirement that overfished stocks should be rebuilt as quickly as biologically possible. But NOAA Fisheries’ revisions seem determined to shake this foundation. … More Info
Final NOAA Rule Weakens Fisheries Protection
Protecting U.S. fisheries from overfishing, and restoring populations of fish that are at unsustainably low levels, just got a little tougher. On Oct. 13, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) announced a final version of guidelines to implement National Standard 1, which directs fisheries managers to prevent overfishing while attaining the greatest economic, ecological, and social benefits for the nation. National Standard 1 is the most important of the 10 standards that guide fisheries managers’ implementation of the nation’s primary fishing law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The final rule contains several critical deficiencies. … More Info
Key Players in Ocean Conservation Identify Next Steps to End Illegal Fishing
How to build on recent successes in the fight to end illegal fishing proved to be a major topic of discussion at June’s Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW) in Washington. The annual program, held during National Oceans Month, brought together more than 600 national and global policymakers, scholars, scientists, and conservation leaders to talk about the state of the world’s oceans. … More Info
Study Supports Current Approach to Rebuilding Fish Populations
An analysis published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE in January found that the standard method for setting timelines to rebuild depleted fish populations—that is, by calculating how long it would take for the population to recover if there were no fishing, and adding the average age at which a fish in the population reproduces—is still the best approach for U.S. stocks, compared with two alternatives recently proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine fisheries service. … More Info
Celebrating 20 Years of Essential Fish Habitat Policy
The year 2016 marks a few noteworthy anniversaries: the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and Star Trek’s 50th birthday! And in the world of fisheries policy, perhaps the most significant anniversary – apart from the 40th anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act celebrated earlier this month, of course – is the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Essential Fish Habitat policy. … More Info
Happy 40th Birthday, Magnuson-Stevens Act!
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, our nation’s primary law governing fishing and fishery resources in the United States. The law is now up for reauthorization, meaning that Congress has the opportunity to build on the successes of our nation’s fisheries as well as make improvements where we face challenges. … More Info
