Greenpeace Lauds Marine Fish Conservation Amendments
Nigel Allen
Greenpeace Lauds Marine Fish Conservation Amendments; Calls
Gilchrest Bill Vital to Sustainability of U.S. Fishing Industry
To: National Desk, Environment Writer
Contact: Gerald Leape of Greenpeace Ocean Ecology, 202-319-2401
or Deborah Rephan of Greenpeace News Desk, 202-319-2492,
WASHINGTON, April 28 -- Calling the problem of overfishing
"as much an economic disaster as an environmental one,"
Greenpeace today joined the more than 65 member organizations
of the Marine Fish Conservation Network in applauding the "Marine
Fish Conservation Amendments of 1994," introduced by Rep. Wayne
Gilchrest (R-Md.).
The bill is a response to the depletion of commercial fish stocks
-- and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs -- that is plaguing U.S.
coasts, brought on by years of recklessly exploitative fishing
practices, and irresponsible management of U.S. fishing industries.
The Gilchrest bill would amend and strengthen the Magnuson
Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. The Magnuson Act
eliminated foreign commercial fishing in U.S. waters and created a
structured industrialization of the U.S. fishing fleet. However,
nearly two decades later, it is apparent that the Magnuson Act only
succeeded in replacing foreign overfishing with domestic overfishing.
As of 1989 the U.S. commercial fishing effort in domestic waters
surpassed the combined U.S. and foreign fishing fleets used in 1975.
As a result, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS), 42 percent of 153 identified fish stocks in the U.S.
commercial fishing territories are currently overexploited.
We have reached the point in most fisheries where we are catching
more fish than can naturally be replaced.
The economic fallout from overfishing is painfully evident on
both coasts. In New England the federal government has offered a
$30 million bail-out to the collapsed groundfish fishery, which
claimed an estimated 14,000 jobs and $350 million of the region's
economy. In Washington and Oregon, the 1994-95 commercial salmon
fishing season has been halted. In the North Pacific, the year-round
pollock fishery has been reduced to a 70-day season.
"The U.S. has found out the hard way that there aren't always more
fish in the sea," said Gerald Leape of Greenpeace's ocean ecology
campaign. "The time has come to face up to our mistakes of the past.
The Gilchrest amendments would set us back on the road to
sustainable fishing practices and economic recovery."
Management of the U.S. commercial fishing industry is flawed in
several distinct areas:
-- It is the only extractive industry of a public resource that
pays nothing to the federal government for the privilege;
-- The regional fisheries management councils which Magnuson
set up are dominated by representatives of the fishing industries
themselves -- the only federal employees who are exempt from
conflict-of-interest laws;
-- Unlike the National Fish and Wildlife Service, the NMFS has no
power to prevent federal activities which destroy coastal fish
habitats.
Among the Gilchrest amendments designed to address these and other
problems are:
-- a 2 percent fee placed on the landed value of commercially
caught fish. This fee would be administered by the NMFS, would not
be subject to appropriation, and would relieve some of the financial
burden of fisheries management that is currently borne by the U.S.
taxpayer;
-- a requirement that at least 25 percent of the management
councils be represented by non-users, and that the waiver of
conflict-of-interest laws be repealed;
-- mechanisms by which to the NMFS can prohibit federal activities
that impact negatively on coastal fish habitats.
"These steps provide a rational plan for fisheries management
that is driven by conservation, not profits," Leape concluded, "and
that is the only goal that will allow this industry to thrive in the
future."
Greenpeace is proud to be a member of the Marine Fish
Conservation Network, a coalition of more than 65 conservation,
animal welfare, commercial, and recreational fishing groups
from across the country. The Network gets support from a broad
array of regional fishing groups, from the Alaska Longline Fishing
Association to the Maine Lobstermen's Association.
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