According to NOAA it has lumped together recreational and commercial fishing segments in the U.S., believing that overfishing in the oceans can be ended by 2010 as demanded by the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires fishery managers to set up systems that will specify annual catch limits at such levels that overfishing does not occur.
In its statement NOAA said that the act calls for measures to ensure accountability with these limits, and that the limits do not exceed the scientific recommendations made by the regional fishery management councils’ scientific committees. Jim Balsiger, the acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service, opined that the commercial seafood industry and recreational saltwater fishing provide our nation food, jobs and other incredible benefits that we want to continue for future generations when we end overfishing.
NOAA adds that the system takes into account the uncertainty in estimating catch limits for a certain species, but it calls for strong accountability measures to prevent annual catch limits from being exceeded, and to address such a situation quickly if it does occur. However, NOAA says that in 2007, seven fish species’ stocks were removed from the overfishing list and approximately 40 stocks are still experiencing overfishing.
NOAA informed that the U.S. commercial and recreational fisheries generated more than $185 billion in sales and supported more than two million jobs nationwide in 2006. When the problem concerns overfishing, the recreational community has shown time and again that it voluntarily practices conservation measures, and if told to stop fishing for certain species until stocks rebound, they’ll gladly cooperate.
