ASGA 2020 RECAP / UPDATE - magnuson-stevens
February 6, 2020
The American Saltwater Guides Association held its Annual Board Meeting at The Fly Fishing Show in Edison, NJ on January 25.
At the end of the meeting, the ASGA held a public session, during which policy updates were presented, outlining the current status of management around fisheries and species that the organization (and that we at Tightlined) are focused on, including some general outlook as to what we might run into in the coming year.
Here’s the update on federal management, or the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
For quick background, Magnuson Stevens is the legislation that manages our federal fisheries (fishing that takes place 3-200 miles offshore). Right now there really isn’t much of an update to provide in terms of specific proposals, etc., however the general approach managers are taking federally is beginning to shift.
Historically, those focused on conservation have been on the defensive with federal management. Legislation has been proposed on multiple occasions that attempted to introduce loopholes in the science-based framework on which Magnuson-Stevens is based. Stepping away from the ASGA discussion for a second to provide an example of this, HR-200 was a bill that was introduced and passed in the House of Representatives in 2017-18. Included in that bill were conditions that would allow managers to consider things other than science when setting quotas in management, including economic impacts. Additionally, there was a part of the bill that would allow managers to maintain quotas despite a reduction in fish populations if that reduction was a result of something other than fishing pressure. So, for simplicity, let’s say there are 100 million bluefish in the ocean, and as a result, the quota is 15 million fish harvested. All of a sudden, due to something not fishing-related, like warming water, now there are 50 million bluefish. This bill would have allowed managers to maintain the 15 million fish quota since fishing was not the cause of the reduction in the first place. Those are the types of bills and types of proposals that were being fought, and were fought successfully.
Moving forward, we are overdue for a reauthorization of Magnuson-Stevens. As a positive first step in that process, Congressman Jared Huffman, head of the Water, Oceans and Wildlife Committee has been on a national listening tour on fishery management. This tour is a sign that he is listening and that he is interested in making sure the right regulations are in place. Further, three of the people invited to speak at the East Coast stop on his listening tour were in the room at the ASGA meeting. This means that the ASGA, and those associated with the organization, are being invited to the table. This is a big deal, and introduces a conservation-focused voice that has long been missing into the regulation development process.
There will likely be some sort of proposal in 2020 to reauthorize Magnuson-Stevens or some sort of legislation to address federal fishery management, and the ASGA and other conservation-focused organizations will be on the front lines.