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Send a letter to your Senators urging them to support
the Fishery Conservation Transition Act
In 2006, Congress reauthorized
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), which
is the primary law governing marine fisheries management. Important
amendments made to the MSA were intended to drive the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA
Fisheries) to more effective marine fisheries management and stock
rebuilding.
While the intentions behind
the reauthorization of MSA were aimed at better marine fisheries
conservation, it has become apparent that NOAA Fisheries was not prepared
for a law that mandates all our marine resources be managed to end
overfishing by certain dates in 2011. Over the past three years, NOAA
Fisheries has not complied with the amendments in many fisheries such as
South Atlantic red snapper other than to resort to the most draconian
measures, namely total fishery closures. The inattention by NOAA
Fisheries to recreational fishing over time, combined with new mandates
included in the MSA, has led to major problems in need of major immediate
action.
On July 15, 2010, Senator Bill
Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced S. 3594, the Fishery Conservation Transition Act
(FCTA). This bill will give NOAA Fisheries the time, resources and
guidance to reprioritize its responsibilities in order to properly
implement MSA in the manner in which it was originally envisioned by
Congress in 2006. The FCTA will provide time to improve recreational
fishery management and data gathering, meet the conservation and
management priorities of MSA, and avoid "crisis management" by
closure.
In short, the FCTA will better
ensure a future for our marine resources and a future for recreational
angling.
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