Despite the importance of sustaining fisheries, the reauthorization of the cornerstone policy protecting them in the United States—the Magnuson-Stevens Act—has been stalled in Congress for a decade. The holdup? Some blame the policy for being too stringent and leading to what they call “under fishing,” while others argue it is not doing enough to rebuild depleted fish populations. Others go so far as to say that fish populations would have rebounded without any policy.
A pair of studies find these concerns to be largely unsubstantiated.
Analyzing the policy’s impact on fish populations, fishing, and industry revenue, they find it works essentially as it should. It is rebuilding fish populations, and in most cases, it is not unduly holding back fishers from making their catch.
Read how U.S. fishing policy boosts fish populations.