FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 15, 2019
CONTACT: Jo Knight, jo@conservefish.org
Stakeholders Emphasize Need for Science-Based Fisheries Management
Arlington, VA – House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Chairman Jared Huffman (D-CA) hosted a third round table listening session in Baltimore, MD on federal fisheries policy in advance of a Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization bill. Robert C. Vandermark, executive director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network, released the following statement:
“Chairman Huffman’s round table has provided a great opportunity for the people who depend on healthy and abundant recreational and commercial fisheries in the mid-Atlantic to inform future marine policy. These stakeholders have seen firsthand how science-based management has curbed overfishing and improved abundance of federally-managed fish populations for the benefit of all.
“In the mid-Atlantic as in all regions, we must adapt our fisheries management for the emerging challenges ahead such as climate change, which will continue to affect fish habitat, including ocean water temperature and acidification. To ensure their future resiliency, all mid-Atlantic fisheries should be managed under the same conservation mandates as the Magnuson-Stevens Act. We must also require more conservative management of forage fish, which are prey for important regional species such as striped bass, summer flounder, bluefish, scup and black sea bass, as well as ocean ecosystems as a whole.
“The Network thanks Chairman Huffman for continuing to champion healthy oceans, productive fisheries, and the coastal communities who rely on them. We fully support Rep. Huffman’s public process to guide the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and to ensure all Americans have abundant ocean resources for years to come.”
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The Marine Fish Conservation Network is a coalition of commercial and recreational fishing associations, regional and national conservation groups, aquaria, and marine science organizations committed to sustaining fish populations, healthy marine ecosystems, and robust fishing communities.
