Fishers march on D.C., demand lenient catch limits

Fishers and their supporters staged a march on the Capitol Wednesday, demanding less stringent catch limits.

The caps, authorized by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, can be imposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in an effort to meet the law's goal of ending over-fishing.

The regulatory power to limit fishing was added to the nation's primary fishery conservation law in Jan. 2007, when former President George W. Bush signed a bill enacted by a Republican-led Congress.

NOAA, through regional fishery management councils, must establish the science-based "annual catch limits" for species subject to over-harvesting this year.

NOAA recently closed several recreational fisheries under the terms of the law, including the black sea bass fishery in New England and the mid-Atlantic region.

Many participants in the "United We Fish" rally complained that their ability to earn a living on the sea will be unnecessarily restricted, with some arguing that fish populations subject to quotas are plentiful and able to withstand higher take levels.

In addition to expressing opposition to catch limits and fishery closures, protesters also urged enactment of an amendment to the Magnuson-Stevens Act that would ease the 10-year deadline for NOAA to rebuild over-fished stocks.

The current law allows NOAA to extend the deadline in particular cases for biological and other reasons.

NOAA's chief fishery administrator defended the agency's recent actions and the country's principal fishery conservation law, arguing that a continued focus on rebuilding depleted fisheries will enhance fishing opportunities and strengthen local fishery-based economies.

"Ending overfishing is the first step to allowing a fish stock population to rebuild to a level where the stock can be fished sustainably for the long term," Eric Schwaab said in a statement.