Washington, D.C. – The Magnuson-Stevens Act being taken up in subcommittee today is an excellent first step towards protecting fishermen and managing our fisheries in an economically sustainable fashion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget watchdog organization and Friends of the Earth, a national environmental organization.

“The authors of this legislation should be commended for their efforts to protect a valuable public resource for taxpayers and our nation, and for the sake of conservation,” said Harriet Nash, Director of the Fisheries Program for Friends of the Earth.

However, stronger standards are needed to address the current problems with the management of Individual Fishing Quotas (IFQs).

“If not fixed, this bill could fail to do what its authors are intending – to sustain the nation’s fisheries, protect independent fishermen, and retain the oceans as a public resource for the benefit of all Americans,” said Nate Heasley, Director of the Fisheries Program for Taxpayers for Common Sense.

One way to ensure those goals is to institute royalty auction for quota shares, with well-defined limits on quota consolidation. Revenue raised from auctions would help to pay for the nearly $1 billion in annual federal fishery management and enforcement costs. Consolidation caps would protect independent fishermen from being taken over by corporate interests.

“While the bill requires some fees, it is troubling that these provisions would not adequately compensate taxpayers for the use of this public resource,” continued Heasley.

The bill also includes a review period, but without a reallocation method, the review period will just be pro-forma. Consolidation limits in the current bill are not strict enough to protect family fishermen, and the inclusion of processor IFQ systems would hurt small fishermen even more.

“Royalty auctions for fishing quotas are the best way to ensure an adequate return for taxpayers, and to protect family fishermen and the environment,” continued Nash.

“Rep. Gilchrest (R-MD) and other committee members should be commended for their outstanding work on drafting this bill. We look forward to working with them to protect fishermen and guarantee an equitable return to taxpayers for the use of this public resource,” concluded Heasley.