Improving the Management of U.S. Marine Fisheries (1994) / Chapter Skim
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To assess the effectiveness of present U.S. fisheries management, a Committee on Fisheries was estab 1In this report reference to fishery resources or fish is intended to be general and inclusive of all marine species that are under federal fisheries management, including for example, many species of finfish, some shellfish (surf clams, ocean quahogs, and Atlantic sea scallops)
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It is the committee' s view that the MFCMA does not contain adequate measures to prevent harvest from reducing the stock below a level at which it can sustain maximum yield over the long term, to control entry and wasteful capitalization in order to prevent overfishing of a stock of fish, and to promote rebuilding of stocks reduced to low levels. Recommendation 1: Fishery management should promote full realization of optimum yields as originally envisioned in the MECMA by ensuring that harvest does not reduce stock abundance below levels that can sustain maximum yields over the long term.
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In fishery management plans developed by a regional fishery management council or the Secretary, the realization of optimum yield for fisheries should be promoted by maintaining stock abundance at or above the maximum sustainable yield level. Specifically, when a stock is below its level of maximum biological productivity, allowable catch levels should not be increased by optimum yield adjustments but should be kept below the current replacement level to allow rebuilding of the stock over a specified period of time.
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The committee recommends a management structure consisting of three major components: the Secretary of Commerce, as the official of the federal government; the regional fishery management councils, as legislatively provided representing regional expertise, knowledge, and interests; and an independent oversight body, as an independent advisor to the Secretary, the councils, and Congress. The oversight body should be established as an independent mechanism responsible for strategic planning, review of management decisions and actions, and conflict resolution by providing recommendations to the Secretary, the councils, and Congress (see description in Chapter 4~.
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This scientific committee could be the council's scientific and statistical committee, a group drawn mainly from the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service, or a separate new committee. Actual total allowable catches may, of course, be modified by adjustments to the optimum yield by council members provided that, first, maximum sustainable yield can be sustained over the long term, and second, for currently overfished stocks, the permissible harvests allow rebuilding these stocks over specified periods of time to levels that can support sustainable maximum yields.
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Furthermore, insufficient information about the effects on the environment and multi-species interactions may prevent correct assessment of current and future recruitment. Recommendation 4: The Secretary of Commerce should improve the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service's scientific programs by making them responsive to management needs and to possible societal and economic effects.
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From page 7... ...
Management plans should also include procedures designed to reduce the general wastage found in many types of fishing. The Secretary of Commerce through the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service should undertake multispecies approaches to fishery management to evaluate the need for and, if necessary, implement a formal bycatch reduction program.
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Although the MPCMA allows councils to comment and make recommendations on any activity proposed by a federal or state agency that may affect the habitat of a fishery resource under a council's jurisdiction, this provision does not address the effects of fishing activities on non-target organisms, and on the physical and chemical environment. Recommendation 7: The Secretary of Commerce, through the NOAA/ National Marine Fisheries Service and under advisement from regional fishery management councils, should be empowered to protect the habitats necessary to sustain fishery resources.
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