Pombo's fishing bill limits power of sanctuaries:
Magnuson-Stevens Act would have final say over marine waters

Inside Bay Area | May 15, 2006 | By Douglas Fischer

Deep in a fishing bill before Congress is a clause that would wrest control of fisheries inside marine sanctuaries — such as the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary just west of San Francisco and Marin — away from sanctuary managers.

The bill voids the carte blanche managers now have to write rules for fisheries within their waters. Sanctuary managers would still be allowed to develop fishing limits and seasons different from non-protected waters under the new bill, but such regulations would have to comply with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which governs offshore fishing.

Environmentalists warn the switch would hand industry de facto control of the preserves and is akin to letting the U.S. Forest Service write logging plans for the national parks.

But the bill's author, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, chairman of the House Resources Committee, calls the measure a middle-ground approach that ensures fisheries within sanctuaries comply with "the most important environmental fisheries law" in the nation, said Melissa Delaney, a spokeswoman for the Resources Committee.

"Fisheries managers, whoever they may be, need to follow the basic intent of the law," she added.

At its core, the dispute centers on what role sanctuaries play. Fishermen want access to the protected waters; environmentalists prefer to see the 13 national sanctuaries preserved as natural hatcheries that replenish ocean stocks.

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, fishing regulations are set by large regional councils that represent a variety of interests but tend to be dominated by the fishing industry. Sanctuary managers, on the other hand, take a broader look at other uses and goals, particularly biodiversity, said Bill Chandler, vice president of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute.

"The Magnuson Act standards call for 'optimum sustainable yield' — i.e., 'there will be fishing,'" he said. "Essentially you'd have a back-door rule that would make fishing a mandatory activity."

But the Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires managers hold open hearings and employ the best available, peer-reviewed science. Sanctuary managers have no such constraints.

Three California marine sanctuaries — Monterey, Cordell Banks and Channel Islands — have proposed their own rules for fisheries management, alleging the Magnuson Act does not protect ecosystems, according to the California Fisheries Coalition, which supports the Pombo bill.

"Fishery management is best addressed through the ecosystem-based policies of the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act," wrote coalition trustees in a letter to Pombo. "There is no need for an additional, duplicative layer of authority to regulate fishing."

Pombo said he hopes to have the bill, with the clause intact, out of committee before the Memorial Day weekend, Delaney said.

Source: www.insidebayarea.com