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The Future For Fishing: Managing a lucrative resource In the face of climate change

A panel of diverse stakeholders shared their thoughts on how to improve the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Source: Honolulu Civil Beat
Congressional leaders are considering ways to make the nation’s primary fisheries management law more effective as the planet warms.

Honolulu, HAWAII — Hawaii’s $100 million tuna industry was the latest focal point for members of Congress trying to decide how to improve the main federal law governing the management of U.S. coastal waters.

Conservationists and commercial fishing industry leaders came together on the need to restructure the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to adequately consider climate impacts during a panel discussion in Honolulu. 

But that was about it for the common ground they found during the last stop on U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman’s nationwide “listening tour” on reforming the MSA.

The panelists, which also included state and federal officials, had diverging views on the effectiveness of marine national monuments like Papahanaumokuakea and whether the eight regional councils that the law set up to manage fishery resources nationally should have designated seats to ensure representation from environmental, indigenous and scientific interests as well as the commercial fishing industry. 

They took turns offering their suggestions on how to fix the MSA to Huffman, a California Democrat, and Hawaii Congressman Ed Case, who hosted the two-hour discussion last week at the Bishop Museum. Huffman participated through videoconference.

“I am not trying to completely reinvent the Magnuson Act,” Huffman said, adding that pillars of the law have proven incredibly successful. “But we have to look at the future.”

But concerns remain over the hold that commercial fishing interests have over the councils, especially the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, and what that means for its mandate to ensure sustainable practices. Wespac’s 16 members manage the largest region, overseeing more than 1.5 million square miles of ocean.

Read more at Honolulu Civil Beat