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The Evolution of the Maonuson Fishery Conservation and Management 

 Act and the Need for Change 



The authors of the FCMA did a number of things to deal with 



potential conflicts of interest. To begin with they created a 



set of National Standards against which fishery management plans 



were to be measured. These were intended to provide some 



guidelines and a meaningful set of standards to protect against 



abuse. This was done in part through a Secretarial review 



process designed as a check on the actions of the councils and 



their compliance with the National Standards. The authors of the 



Act also relied on the availability of judicial review as well as 



other general protections found elsewhere in federal law. 



One of these protections is the Federal Advisory Committee 

 Act (or "FACA") S which prescribes a comprehensive scheme 

 designed to control the creation and operation of advisory 

 committees within the Executive Branch and to ensure open 

 meetings and public access to information. 



Another basic protection is the conflict of interest 

 provisions contained in the United States Code which prohibit 

 federal employees from participating personally and substantially 

 in particular matters in which they have a financial interest. 6 



5 



5 U.S.C. app § 1, 



6 18 U.S.C. § 208. 



