Flexibility In Rebuilding…what a concept!
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) have introduced the 2009 version of the Flexibility In Rebuilding American Fisheries Act. Now, before we all get too excited, bear in mind that essentially the same bill has been introduced and died in committee in both of the last two years.
That said, the bill is cause for some hope because it actually advocates using a bit of common sense and logic along with good science (as opposed to Pew Spew) in regulating our fisheries.
“We should be using sound biology and science when deciding how best to rebuild fish stocks,” Pallone said, adding “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.”
The reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act called for a strict ten year timetable to rebuild stocks. It is a narrow interpretation based on this single clause of the Bill that has been used by the NMFS to pass numerous examples of draconian legislation that are putting many American fishermen either out of business or in the unenviable position of “fishing until all the money is gone.” The Frank & Pallone bill proposes some flexibility. It allows that as long as a stock is showing signs of recovery, then there should be room for some flexibility in the recovery time line in order to mitigate economic impacts on fishing communities.
This is nothing but reasonable. It is not, as the environmentalist groups will undoubtedly claim, “giving in to the greed of the fishermen” as it demands that the stocks must be demonstrably rebuilding. It is not something that any fisherman would oppose since it does exactly what we would ask, apply some sort of reasonable amount of flexibility giving room for the regulatory agencies to consider the rest of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the clauses they choose to ignore at the present time that say they should not impose undue hardship or cause economic disaster to fishermen and fishing communities and they should base their actions on good solid science, not the first available report that fits the Pew Trust’s anti-fishing agenda. NMFS has become synonymous with “undue hardship” and now that a Pew Fellow is at the helm of NOAA will only fall more and more in lock-step with the Pew Trust’s well financed propaganda campaigns to garner support to shut down the American Commercial Fisheries.
Some sort of reasonable compromise is needed before the American Fishing Industry is forced completely out of business in an irreversable trend that, once it has happened will be looked upon like so many other causes the environmentalists have duped people into supporting. At the rate we are going now, “But I really thought it would help the fish” will be heard over many a meal of unhealthy imported farm raised tilapia in the not so far distant future.
As National Fisherman Editor and Publisher Jerry Fraser said in his Fish eNews email today:
Politics is the art of the possible, but it is also the art of getting the votes. With broad, vocal support this bill could go somewhere. Fishermen need to stand up and be heard.
Rarely have more true words been written. You can go to the contact pages of the Southern Offshore Fishing Association website and most likely locate your Representative and Senators along with links to their contact pages. Please go to those pages and let them know that you strongly support “H.R. 1584: Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009″ and that as one of their voting constituents you would like for them to do the same.
