Lawmakers set for another run at overhauling fisheries law

After delaying a vote last week, the House Natural Resources Committee will meet again to consider proposed changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

September 27, 2022

The House Natural Resources Committee plans to meet again this week to consider a proposed reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, a 1976 law that sets the rules for fishing in all federal waters.

If approved, the law would include a mention of climate change for the first time in history.

The panel last week began a debate on H.R. 4690, the “Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act,” a bill that would require NOAA to create plans for “climate ready fisheries” to manage the nation’s shifting stocks.

But faced with a long list of amendments, the committee decided to schedule another meeting with hopes of finishing the markup Thursday (E&E Daily, Sept. 22).

At last week’s hearing, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the committee’s chair, said the Magnuson-Stevens law needed “timely updates,” particularly by addressing the effects of a changing climate and shifting fish stocks.

But overall, he said, the law had served the nation well by helping fight rampant overfishing.

“The MSA turned things around,” Grijalva said.

The proposed reauthorization faced another delay earlier this year when Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the chair of the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, decided to postpone a vote in response to the death of Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, the former House dean who died in March (E&E Daily, April 5).

Schedule: The markup is Thursday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. in 1324 Longworth and via webcast.


By:  Rob Hotakainen
Source: E&E Daily