The Fishing Communities Coalition has submitted detailed comments on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update the guidelines for Magnuson-Stevens Act National Standard 4 (allocations), 8 (communities), and 9 (bycatch). The FCC’s comments continue our members’ leadership in ocean conservation from the small-scale fisheries perspective by focusing on Equity and Environmental Justice, integrating climate change into fishery management, and enhancing protections for fishing communities across the board. To read our comments, click here.
What are the National Standards?
‣The Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and Fishery Management Act (MSA) outlines 10 National Standards, sometimes called our Fisheries Bill of Rights.
‣Each National Standard focuses on a fishery management principle like Bycatch, Scientific Data and Safety at Sea.
Why do these standards have guidelines?
‣Federal fishery managers enact, update and enforce fishery management policies. Our eight regional councils use the MSA and its National Standards to write fishery management plans and policy updates, which are submitted to NMFS leadership for review. The guidelines help council members write policy proposals that align with MSA and the priorities established by NMFS.
What are the goals of this potential update?
‣ Improve federal management of stocks, specifically to address:
‣Climate-related impacts on fisheries
‣Promoting Equity and Environmental Justice in fisheries
Why is NOAA proposing a guideline update?
‣Proposed changes to the guidelines provide an opportunity for fisheries and seafood stakeholders to offer feedback on how domestic fisheries are managed, and to ensure guidelines account for current challenges, like climate change, working waterfront infrastructure, and community-based access.
‣Guideline updates can help our fishery management councils react more efficiently and effectively to climatic effects on fisheries, including species shifting, habitat loss and degradation, and unprecedented and/or sudden changes in biomass. Effective response is critical to a consistent domestic seafood supply and food security, which affects any business or household that relies on fisheries, including fishermen, buyers, retailers and consumers.
‣This is a first step in a lengthy but critical process that will affect our fisheries and domestic seafood supply for years to come.
Should I give feedback? YES!
If you: Fish federally managed stocks
Work with fishermen
Buy, sell, distribute domestic seafood
Are a fishing community stakeholder
Your feedback can help strengthen working waterfronts and community-based fisheries nationwide. The deadline to submit comments is September 12th. To submit your own comments online, click here and then select “Comment”!