House Bill Would Undermine Healthy US Fisheries and Oceans - Oceana USA

House Bill Would Undermine Healthy US Fisheries and Oceans

Press Release Date: June 1, 2015

Location:

Contact:

Dustin Cranor, APR | email: dcranor@oceana.org | tel: 954.348.1314

 

WASHINGTON–Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is debating a bill to rewrite the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, H.R. 1335, introduced by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska). 

Jacqueline Savitz, Oceana’s Vice President for U.S. Oceans, issued the following statement on the bill:

“The bipartisan Magnuson-Stevens Act is not broken. The Act is working to reverse overfishing and bring back fisheries abundance. This wrong-headed bill would turn the clock backwards on fisheries management and undermine important progress in restoring stocks to robust levels that can provide Americans with a steady supply of healthy seafood.  This bill would seriously undercut the health of our fisheries, compromise the role of science in driving fisheries management, and create loopholes that weaken our ability to end overfishing and rebuild fishery ecosystems.”

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Oceana is the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans. Oceana wins policy victories for the oceans using science-based campaigns. Since 2001, we have protected over 1.2 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea turtles, sharks, dolphins and other sea creatures. More than 600,000 supporters have already joined Oceana. Global in scope, Oceana has offices in North, South and Central America, Asia, and Europe. To learn more, please visit www.oceana.org.