The Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee has released a draft of some proposed changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Act was last reauthorized by Congress back in 2006 and its up for another review and re-authorization.
The Act governs the commercial and recreational harvest of fish in Federal waters. Representative Doc Hastings unveiled the proposed changes to the Act on Dec. 20 and stressed that the goal of the release is to gather public input. Hastings believes the proposed changes would give regional fishery managers more flexibility to deal with complex fishery issues. He also claims the changes would improve the ability to collect fishery data.
The proposed changes to the Magnuson Stevens Act are available on the website of the House Natural Resources Committee and you can submit your comments about the proposed changes by sending an email to magnusonstevens@mail.house.gov.
Mike Mason is a reporter at KDLG in Dillingham.
