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WASHINGTON STATE FISHING INDUSTRY'S 



RECOMMENDATIONS ON REAUTHORIZATION OF 



THE MAGNUSON FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT 



Members of the Washington State fishing industry, including 

 Harvesters and processors participating in the halibut, crab, 

 groundfish and salmon fisheries of the North Pacific and the West 

 Coast, are seeking changes in the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and 

 Management Act (Magnuson Act). The undersigned trade associations, 

 which represent participants in the fisheries identified above, 

 suggest four issue areas upon which Congress should focus during 

 the reauthorization process. 



The four issue areas are 1 ) the regional fishery management 

 council regulatory process, 2) the development of a rational 

 fishery management scheme for the North Pacific, 3) the composition 

 of regional fishery management councils, and 4) ethics issues 

 pertaining to council members. Within each of the four areas, we 

 offer a variety of alternatives to address existing problems and to 

 improve conservation and management of U.S. fishery resources. 



We would also like to take this opportunity to encourage 

 Congress to focus on the issues of bycatch and discards. 

 Specifically, there should be a national policy regarding the 

 impact of bycatch of non-target species on fish populations and the 

 marine ecosystem, and adequate support for research in the area of 

 gear selectivity, including the development of bycatch reducing 

 technologies. In addition, there should be an emphasis on 

 management strategies that include incentives for fishermen to 

 increase gear selectivity or use more selective methods of fishing. 

 Finally, Congress should also examine practicable approaches for 

 ensuring maximum utilization of commercially marketable species 

 consistent with conservation goals. 



1. Fishery Management Regulatory Process. 



The following alternatives seek to make regional fishery 

 management councils more accountable and to improve the fishery 

 management regulatory process. 



• Create a national Fishery Management Review Board as a fact- 

 finding panel empowered to review certain council actions. This 

 recommendation echoes a proposal put forth by the National Academy 

 of Sciences and seeks to reduce the politicization of fishery 

 management actions. We recommend that the review board's actions 

 occur concurrently with the existing 95-day review period for 

 fishery management plans and plan amendments. 



